Blue Monday Casuals

Happy Monday! ..or not,  as the people that “be" tell us. 
It amazes me that they come up with these ridiculous days  “ Blue Monday”  “ Black Friday”  What ever next “ Grey Wednesday” “ Dark Brown Thursday”!!  
We are trying to keep positive and happy over here , so quit the depressing days and just make the most of each week. Thank you!
Ah, I feel better after that.

So today when I ventured outside it wasn't actually blue but white over with ice , so today called for some warm, comfy casuals, and there is nothing nicer than my faux fur gilet to tick all the boxes.
I have had lots of comments on this gilet because it really does look like real fur, but I promise you it is not, I just don,t like the idea of wearing real fur at all.
I also wore it with my chunky grey jumper from Zara ( which is now £7.99 in the sale) and my favourite skinny jeans.
My wedge trainers from Kurt Geiger came out to play as well and they are just the comfiest shoes I have ever worn.

I have been thinking about Valentines day today too, and having a browse about the Internet to see what goodies are out there for me to write about in a Valentines special for the blog, so I will keep you posted with that.

Hope you all have a bright and exciting (not blue and depressing) day today.

Take care 
Amanda

Faus fur Gilet: Mint Velvet

Jumper : Zara www.zara.com

Jeans: Topshop www.topshop.com

Wedge trainers: www.kurtgeiger.com

Sunday best.

Hope you have all had a great weekend and are all re-charged and ready for the week ahead.

I have had a mixed weekend of family time, gym time and chill time …. all “the times” I need really, so it has been great.

Today was our usual family time when we all go out for our Sunday dinner and have a catch up with what we are all doing.
To drag the kids away from anything beginning with an “i” is a bonus and it is a little family tradition now.

Still in my cream/black mode I wore a cream skirt from Zara and black fine knit jumper from All Saints, with over the knee boots and a big scarf.
I love the cut of this skirt because it is fitted over the hips and flares out at the bottom, a very flattering cut to wear with boots and heels.
The scarf is new in at Zara and is absolutely gorgeous, it fits in perfectly with my outfits and also has the same beige colour squares on as my Christmas prezzie Chole bag, so I know I will wear it loads.
I hope you like the outfit and please fell free to comment. 

 I am excited about “ Mr Selfridge” being back on tonight. Is anyone else watching it? 
He in my eyes is a “Legend” ( although a bit of a promiscuous one!) Selfridges has got to be my favourite shop ever.
So whatever you are doing this evening, have a great one .

Amanda 
x

Jumper: All Saints www.allsaints.com

Skirt: Zara www.zara.com

Scarf : Zara www.zara.com

Boots : Kurt geiger www.kurtgeiger.com

Bag: Chloe

Winter picks and new kicks

I’m back with another fashion post today, I spilt my heart out yesterday, now that's out in the open we can carry on! :)

As I have said in a previous post ( black and cream dream), I am at my most comfortable in simple lines, black and cream, so today I was excited to wear my new cream coat from Zara it is such a gorgeous cut that it makes a very simple and minimalistic silhouette. I teamed this with a chunky knit cream jumper (Zara again) and some leather trousers  and ..wait for it……some New balance trainers.

Now to be honest I am definitely not a fan of wearing trainers if I am not on my way to the gym but I absolutely love this casual look at the moment. I would however only wear these trainers with leather or leather look skinny trousers ( never with jeans) and of course they have to match the outfit so I chose black and white ones to go with a lot of my wardrobe.

What do you think? Would you wear this outfit?

It is a brilliant shopping outfit you just bounce along with a spring in your step and flounce straight past the other women trotting along in there heels and beat them to the last seat in Costa! 

So seriously girls I recommend the trainers ( dark colours only). Give them a try, you may just feel empowered.

Disclaimer: This advice is strictly to add to your shoe collection, no responsibility will be taken if you throw away your heels.

Cream coat: Zara www.zara.com

Cream chunky knit: Zara www.zara.com

Leather trousers: River island www.riverisland.com

Trainers: New Balance 

Bag : Sophie Hulme

Fingerless gloves: www.topshop.com

Ring: Dominic Jones

Have a great weekend

Amanda x

Heartbreak, hopes and dreams

I am writing this post today because not only do I want to write about fashion and my style but I also want my readers to know what has brought me to this decision and to know more about me as a person, wife and mum.

18 months ago, I had the perfect family life, three gorgeous boys ages 11, 5 and 2 all fit, healthy and happy. 
My eldest boy Jack had just passed his 11+ to get into a very sought after high school and was very academic, sporty and popular. 

One morning Jack woke up with double vision completely out of the blue and in the days to follow are lives were not only rocked but completely blown apart…Jack was diagnosed with a large brain tumour.
He had immediate surgery lasting 15 hrs to try to fully remove it, but it was in such a dangerous place ( on the brain stem and in the centre of the brain ) that Jack was lost a couple of times and the decision was made to stop and leave the remainder of the tumour. ( approx 20%).
Jack came out of the operation in such a bad way it was touch and go for about 3 weeks and he was on life support in intensive care. If we thought are nightmare was to end we were much mistaken as Jack then had to have an operation to have a tracheotomy fitted so that he could breath.

This whole time we slept, sat and ate by Jacks bed and it was like living in a foggy bubble, in so much pain I actually felt physically my heart was hurting.

18mths on and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions from anger to elation.
Jack is now 13 and amazingly back at school and working hard everyday to overcome the struggles he has been left with.
It breaks my heart a little everyday to see him put his eye painted contact lense in to blind one eye to stop the double vision and see him walk for the school bus with a bit of a limp. But, and it is a massive BUT ..he is here and I am eternally grateful for every day , minute and second that he is.

So my views on life have obviously changed and I can’t stress enough that life is so precious and you must grab everyday by the throat and just have the best time you possibly can.

If you have been dreaming of doing something DO IT, don’t waste energy on worrying what other people think, live your dreams. 
Look at me starting a fashion blog at 42, but who cares? It is something I really want to do and I am loving doing it.

I hope now that you understand a little about my driving force in life, my family.
If you have children, go and grab them now and give them a massive hug and a kiss and be forever grateful for what you “have” and the rest is just a bonus.

This is a short video that I did for Jacks fundraising football tournament in the summer we have raised £15,000 so far .
It says it all….

Take care 
Amanda x

Tartan Heaven

Its a gorgeous morning, but still cold enough for me to give my new tartan coat from ASOS an airing.

 I had my eye on this before Christmas, and was amazed it went into the sale, so a bargain as well.
It is absolutely gorgeous and not too “in your face” , but a subtle faded tartan that looks great with jeans and grey colours.

I also got these amazing mirrored heel court shoes in the sale from Kurt Geiger which I know will go with lots of outfits and are so comfy .
 I must admit I am not much of a sale shopper but the bargains I have got this year have changed my mind ( a bit) , I still think you have to choose the shops carefully though otherwise you end up searching through clothes that they have dragged out from the basement from the 90’s! Jumble sales spring to mind.

I would however recommend looking online on shops such as www.net-a-porter.com and www.my-wardrobe.com , if you want to bag a designer item, bag or shoes for a fraction of the price, they have sales up to 70% off at the moment, so its well worth a look.

Details of outfit after the pics…Have a great day.

Amanda x

Tartan Coat : Asos@ www.asos.com (sale)

Grey T-shirt: Maison scotch @ www.tessuti.com ( sale)

Destroyed boyfriend jeans : Asos www.asos.com

Grey mirrored heels: Kurt Geiger @ www.kurtgeiger.com

Bag: Alexander McQueen

Silver rings:(spiked) Maria Francesca Pepe @ www.my-wardrobe.com

Grey ring: Topshop www.topshop.com

Black and cream dream.

Today I have called my blog " black and cream dream” because if you opened my wardrobe you would mostly find black and cream, its almost like my uniform. 

I think that it is so easy to wear and put together, and classic too. 

 Another part of my “ uniform” has to be a tailored jacket which I wear a lot with skinny jeans, heels and a big scarf. The cream jacket in today's post is a loose boyfriend style and always looks better with skinny bottoms like today’s leather skinny leather trousers.

Apparently we are supposed to dream in black and white…I am sure that I don't because I always remember the colour of peoples clothes ( Typical).  However I wouldn’t like to get my dreams interpreted in fear of being sectioned! 

Hope you enjoy today's post, let me know what you think in the comments section and till tomorrow “SWEET DREAMS” 

Amanda x

As always details of outfit after pics…please also click the subscribe to post link at the bottom of the page to follow my blog….Thanks folks :)

(Note to self..Do not stand infront of a very dark bush wearing black trousers for a photo! oops)

Cream Boyfriend Jacket: Topshop @ www.topshop.com

Black long shirt: Acne @ www.net-a-porter.com

Black skinny leather trousers: Topshop @ www.topshop.com

Black suede heels: Kurt Geiger@ www.kurtgeiger.com

Long gold chain: Melissa Odabash @ selected House of Frasers

gold rings : www.topshop.com

Cream Bag: Alexander Mcqueen 

Wineoclock, stripes and spikes

I was definitely ready for “wineoclock” today.

 I have had a really busy and productive day, mainly swapping my blog from wordpress to this one on blogger.

The reason for doing this is because I am doing this seriously and for longevity so with that in mind I needed to be able to work with advertisers so that if you wanted to buy something I was wearing I can put a link on the blog and you would be directed straight to the item to purchase it.

I couldn't do this with wordpress so a swap to blogger it was!

If you want to see my previous post my wordpress blog is still live on www.highonluxe.wordpress.com

It was great to be able to do that and then have a bit of girly time with a couple of friends for dinner and of course a couple of glasses of wine.

I wore a casual outfit of stripey jumper, biker jacket and ripped knee jeans, but dressed it up a bit with some gorgeous mesh and suede ankle boots from Zara.

I felt really comfy and relaxed and have had the best time…and all this on a school night! ( naughty)

I hope you like my outfit and as always please feel free to comment.

What have you been up to tonight? and most of all what did you wear?

Details after the pics.

Busted knee Jeans ; Topshop www.topshop.com

Striped jumper and vest top : Maison Scotch @ www.tessuti.com

Leather biker jacket : BLK DENIM www.my-wardrobe.com

Mesh and suede boots: Zara www.Zara.com

Hope you like :) …. until tomorrow, take care peeps

Amanda x