CO. by cotton on

I just found out about this awesome new brand by cotton on called CO. It features all the things I love about fashion from fun out there printed pants, fringe skirts, rocker chic vests, neon and the list goes on and on. I haven't shopped there as of yet but am very looking forward to having a sneak peak in person. Perhaps in future hauls and outfits I will hopefully feature items from it? In the meantime I have browsed their online shop and here are a few of my favourite picks (all images from the cotton on brand and if you love the items check out: http://shop.cottonon.com/cobycottonon/ ):

Biker tape vest
AU $49.95
Paired with anything to give an edgy feel this biker vest would look cute over a floral dress or with a tank top,  jeans and combat boots. 

Opulent sweat short
AU $34.95
I have always been curious about the athletic luxe look where you pair  athletic clothes with luxe items.  These shorts would look cute with either ankle booties and a blouse or with a v-neck tee, statement necklace and converse. 

Quilted raw edge short
AU $34.95
A fun and unique pair of shorts that will add interest to any outfit.  Since the panel part of the shorts is black it would look good with pretty much everything. Especially with the shirt below!

Slub edge pocket tee
AU $24.95
Seeing it now the black accent would look cute with the shorts up top paired with maybe a statement necklace? This casual shirt is a go-to for those lazy days but still remains fashionable with it's black accent. 

Combination wide leg pant
AU $49.95
These shorts are very interesting. I am not sure if I would be brave enough to wear them until I tried them on and had a look but if I owned them I would pair them with ankle strapped kitten heels, a black tank top, fringe vest and hoop earrings. The print is very Dylana and Natalie Suarez (who are insanely fashionable)!

Fringe skirt
AU $20 (on sale!)
Black skirts are awesome with anything from t-shirts to sweaters but I think with a little bit of fringe on it brings it to a whole other level. Very Carrie Bradshaw-esque.

flight baseball tee
AU $29.95
This shirt is really cool and skater-style.  I think it would look cool with a  girly skirt (like the one above) with ankle strapped kitten heels and hoops because it contrasts boyish and girly and makes for a very fun combination!

I watched: les miserables

Oh this movie was amazing. My parents have been fans of the musical since I can remember and I previously have watched the movie musical version when I was quite young. Although my pre-teen self did not understand fully the whole movie the one thing I did and always will remember are the hauntingly beautiful songs. I was excited when I heard that they made a movie of it with an all-star cast including Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried.  I give the movie a 9/10. Music was beautiful, story moving and translated well onto the big screen (yes I did tear up a few times throughout the movie and I discovered I wasn't the only one as others in the movie theatre were sniffling and holding tissues to their faces!) I also believe that the choice of cast was pretty perfect. Anne Hathaway's rendition of I dreamed a dream was incredible, I was captivated. The thing I also liked about the movie was that it really makes you appreciate what you have and how tough life could be back then. 

Oh and did anyone else swoon over Eddie Redmayne? He just exuded charm and how can we say no to a man in formal attire. 

mixing prints yo

So another day another outfit post and skulls make an appearance once again. 2013 being my adventurous year into playing with fashion has brought me to mixing/clashing prints. This definitely makes for numerous interesting combinations and I believe as long as your outfit doesn't make your eyes hurt when you look in the mirror then go right ahead! The trick I go by is trying to color match at least one point of the prints; as you can see the shirt has black in it and so does the leopard print skirt therefore not clashing too much. For fun I also added a black feather collar necklace, studded bags and shoes. I have also worn this outfit without the necklace and with converse which makes for an even more casual look. 

I am also looking into making celebrity inspired outfit posts for you all which will be a lot of fun. Please request some and I will try as best I can! 

outfit tips (going through specifics but as I said earlier have fun and mix whatever prints you would like to):

black feather collar necklace

black and white print sleeveless blouse

leopard print bondage skirt 

black stud bag

black stud shoes

where I got what:

feather collar necklace: diva

black and white print blouse: ICE

leopard print skirt: supre

black studded bag: dotti

black studded shoes: windsor smith 

grunge

Okay so I must admit this outfit was a lot of fun to pull together. The cropped plaid studded collar top was something I saw and was very curious about. It was definitely something I had never tried before. I found it the perfect opportunity to play with some pieces and go with the grunge look but try to glam it up a bit. What is not seen here is that I paired it with a thick gold necklace to help achieve this. By pairing it with converse or flat shoes would make it even more day appropriate even for a day at uni or shopping with friends (we know those days when you end up walking so much from store to store!). 

on a more personal note: I finished my final exam today! I feel very accomplished, relaxed and happy so now I have a month off before I start back again. The exam was very difficult as the course is known for it's tough love to students. I feel happy that I understood the concepts to the best of my ability but I always believe prepare for the best, expect the worst. Oh I forgot to mention that the course I was taking was advanced statistics and man did it feel good when you got questions right! Very big bang theory.  So now since I am officially on break I am looking forward to hopping back on the blogging wagon. 

outfit tips:

gold statement necklace

cropped plaid shirt

black singlet

denim cutoffs

black clutch

lace up ankle booties 

where I got what:

gold necklace (not pictured): rubi shoes

black singlet: chicabooti

cropped plaid studded top: ICE

denim cutoffs: city beach

black stud clutch: colette accesories

black lace up ankle booties: honeys (in japan)

turquoise addiction

Turquoise is one of my favorite colors ever, any opportunity that arises by which I can pull out some turquoise pieces I'm in. The color is vibrant and beautiful and brightens up any outfit. Here I decided to keep it structured and fun with interesting pieces. I would wear this as a going out at night look; sophisticated, fun and focused on the legs. The cropped blazer especially is one of my favorite items in my closet because it is flattering to a curvier body shape and helps to streamline or make any outfit look a tad more sophisticated. Also I must mention the shorts; when I saw them in a shop I had to try them on they are both comfortable and cool which is awesome. I am obsessed with high-waisted shorts! As for recreating this outfit it is quite easy as it is flexible enough to be able to be substituted by any pieces to get a similar kind of look. 

On a more personal note I am sorry I haven't been posting daily as I usually would have loved to as I have been fastracking my degree by doing a statistics course during the summer and it has taken up pretty much all of my time! Oh and I have been working a lot as well which has enabled naughty shopping trips here and there, I blame fashion youtubers for inspiring my shopping addiction! As soon as my final exam ends on Tuesday (freedom!) I will be posting as much as I can. 

outfit points:

statement necklace

cropped blazer

graphic tee

any kind of interesting cool shorts

ankle booties

statement bag

where I got what:

blazer- h&m

statement turquoise necklace- city beach

floral skull shirt- ICE

tye dye high-waisted ripped shorts- city beach

gold studded bag- dotti

black ankle booties- zu 

dancing around to: rooney

If you fell in love with Robert Schwartzman i.e. Micheal in the Princess Diaries goodness like I did then you would agree with me that he is incredibly adorable and charming and yet hot at the same time. Especially since the first time I saw him was from the movie and I just loved his character. Undoubtedly attractive, talented and a bit nerdy a powerful combination in my eyes.  I realised that he was in a band and upon checking it out, I was addicted. I downloaded a few of their albums straight away and since have been periodically having phases where it is all I listen to. Fun music that's what it is and it really makes me dance around. I love pretty much all of their songs but a few of my all-time favourites:

I'm shakin'

Tell me soon

Love me or leave me

Blueside

That girl has love

When did your heart go missing

Simply because

If it were up to me

-

^ phwoar!

a carrie bradshaw moment

When I laid my eyes upon the gorgeous gold starburst studded design on these shiny black booties at a shopping mall I was at today, I was sold. They reminded me of the oh-so-cool black jett boots by Modern Vice x Natalie and Dylana Suarez. See the dilemma with me is that I have average size 7 feet. This means that it is a lucky/not so lucky draw when I go to shoe shops. Either they have stocked and ordered many size 7s to please all of us or other size 7s have stampeded in to get their shoe fix and there are none left. Well my situation was the latter; either a size 6 or size 8 was all they had left. I thought to myself why not? But unfortunately they were either too small or too big.  I admit it sometimes I am stupidly motivated when it comes to something I become passionate about. I looked on the website (only size 10s left at this stage) and stockists did not have websites so I decided to call and ask and finally found one that had my size! Upon asking if I could possibly pay over the phone, get it transferred to the store nearby or put it on hold they said unfortunately not. I was a tiny bit sad but then I spontaneously called back told them to keep it for me as I would be coming tonight! Now this was at 3:30pm and I thought stores closed at 5:30pm. Getting a bus into the city would take me atleast 35 minutes so I knew it was going to be a race to the store. I made it in record time as I got there at 4:30pm (then I found out shops closed at 6:30pm today and not 5:30pm) but the rush was worth it. I tried them on and they were perfect and I am very happy now. Apparently the shoes were so popular they were being sold incredibly fast. Moral of the story is: wait until you get the perfect size it is worth it and also be spontaneous and go for what you want. Although now looking back at my mad rush today, I realise I really did have a Carrie Bradshaw moment. 

glam nails with sportsgirl

During the festive new year's period it seems that everything I get drawn to are sparkly things. As you can see I painted my nails this gorgeous golden champagne shimmery nail polish that was perfect for new years eve/new years day. This nail polish is now one of my favourites. I couldn't help myself from admiring the glitteryness from time to time. It reminds me of the Oscars, Golden Globes anything glamourous. The best part is that this nail polish was quite reasonable I thought, costing at around $11 from Sportsgirl. The colour is in Goddess and a picture is below. Now for those who do not live in Australia I have you covered. Alternatives that I have found are:

-models own nail polish in champagne

-china glaze nail polish in champagne kisses

-MAC nail lacquer in screaming bright

-OPI in glitzerland

 

hitting up the boxing day sales of 2012

So this haul is a tad late but these are the things I bought at the boxing day sales of last year. From last year's observations I found that effective shopping occurs at the financial end of year (june/july) and also after Christmas during the boxing day sales. Pretty much in every shop around those times are emblazoned with every girl's favorite signage of 50% off or even better the rare 75% off. So this year I am going to especially save for those times in order to be cost effective (I am a full-time student with a casual job so you know have to be smart with money). So in the picture above you can see I got 8 items for the amount I would usually spend on 3 items. First let's start to the right; as you can see two skull pieces of clothing (by now you know that I am obsessed!). These were from ICE; the black item is actually a dress with a large keyhole cutout at the back and I fell in love with it as it's very unique. The gray shirt at the top is actually long at the back and short at the front and perfect for a casual day at uni. Next to the left are two items from General Pants. Usually General Pants is too expensive for me so when I saw the sale signage I almost jumped with joy. The shirt at the bottom is the leather sleeved gray shirt that you may have seen in my 'monochrome leather' outfit post, it's super comfortable and looks effortless. The item top of that is a gorgeous velvet dark emerald 3/4 length sleeved crop top. I have fallen in love with velvet items but unfortunately a little bit too late, at this point where I love it I barely see it but no problem I shall wait until Australia's fall/winter season. Finally the last things I picked up were video games. I love fashion but on the inside I am a tad nerdy, I mean I have a 3ds and a ps3 but I am proud of it! Electronic stores have great sales during the period after Christmas and so I took advantage. I got Tomb Raider which has three games in one, Lord of the Rings War of the North, Prince of Persia and Little Big Planet. Now out of the games I did try Little Big Planet and found it to be a bit okay very strange. I tried to like it but I am a bit iffy. What do you guys think?

cold shouldered casual

Being a huge movie fan a friend and I decided to finally see Wreck it Ralph. Beforehand we went out to dinner to a Japanese restaurant that I have frequented many many times I'm practically a regular. I had karaage don which is Japanese fried chicken with salad on rice, my friend had a salad that had teriyaki chicken, fried lotus root and boiled eggs as well as usual salad things and we shared a half-size teriyaki chicken don. Now about the movie I was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet, funny and the detail was incredible. From the way the little people from the Fix it Felix game move to incorporating the audience into the arcade world with well-loved characters like Bowser and Pacman. If you have a soft-spot for movies like Toy Story and love video gaming this is definitely a movie I'd recommend. I even felt myself getting a bit teary at a few points in the movie. So about the outfit. As you can see from the picture above for a casual girl's night I decided to keep it comfortable but interesting. I absolutely love open shouldered shirts and so was very happy when I finally found one! I think it adds a cool casual look but the open shoulders add a bit of peek-a-boo effect. I decided to pair it with a black and white graphic muscle tee, black denim shorts and black and white converse. To make it interesting I paired it with a gold wrap around belt as well as rose gold and gold jewellery (which unfortunately can't be seen in the picture.) Adding luxe pieces to a casual outfit adds interest.

want to recreate? outfit points:

denim open shouldered shirt

black and white graphic muscle tee or tank

black denim shorts

black and white shoes (or converse) 

black bag
gold and rose gold jewellery

where I got what:

denim open shouldered shirt: stall in Market City 

black and white graphic shirt: ICE

black denim shorts:  Jay Jays

converse: Glue

black and gold handbag: Kardashian Kollection (Strandbags)

rose gold and gold jewellery: Sportsgirl
gold jewellery belt: vintage from mum

looks like a butterfly stings like a bee

I am unsure why but as of the end of last year I have reignited my love for skull-print clothing. My wardrobe is slowly filling up with said pieces but I must say I like certain looking prints rather than the realistic-looking skull patterns. It's just personal taste really but other than that I believe it really adds an instantaneous edgy feel to any outfit. As you can see I love mixing sweet with tough pieces because it's unexpected and makes for interesting combinations. The outfit above I styled is one of my favourites! You can also also pair it with black and white converse to give an effortless casual feel (which I ended up doing later that evening!)

want to recreate? outfit points:

black and white print blouse (if skull print bonus)

bright floral pants 

black strappy sandals 

where I got what:

skull blouse- ICE

floral pants- Ally

strappy black sandals- Mustafa Center (from when I went to Singapore! Good quality and super cheap shoes)

dancing around to: the xx

I have to admit that I often fall in love with songs rather than genres so when I heard of the effortlessly cool band; the xx, I instantaneously felt calm and could appreciate the beauty of the lyrics. Please check them out and tell me what you think, my favorite song of theirs so far is Angels (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nW5AF0m9Zw).

I really am a hopeless romantic;
And with words unspoken 
A silent devotion...
Being as in love with you as I am

what i've been watching: Sons of Anarchy

So I have recently stumbled upon the show Sons of Anarchy arose. Here is the synopsis for you curious ones: a man in his early 30s struggles to find a balance in his life between being a new dad and his involvement in a motorcycle club. I have just finished the first season and I am hooked. Now it is not a show for the faint-hearted as it does depict violence and gore and not in a glossed-over Hollywood way either. The reasons I like it however and I believe most people do is because it's cool, has gritty charm and keeps you on your feet. Another point why I like the show; it depicts the many layers of characters letting the audience partake on the journey of effective character development. This can be seen in the example of the smouldering main character Jax; who is a biker bad boy with layers of vulnerability and conscientiousness. If you do check out the show or have seen it please comment below and tell me what you think.

monochrome leather kind of day

So I've recently started getting into the edgy effortless kind of look. I love this outfit because it's comfortable, it's fashionable and all the pieces seem to compliment each other. When you find good statement pieces everything else becomes much easier to style. Now I admit that before in my high school days I would've thought my fashion choices were 'glamourous' I mean I thought figure-hugging Kim Kardashian-esque pencil skirt with a tight t-shirt and scarf was 'super fashionable' to wear to school functions and as much as I look back at that and giggle what can I say? Sometimes us girls want to experiment with fashion to feel and look good and it is through time and experience where we find the perfect balance of fashion and ourselves. Anyway enough with the rambling, haha the thing that I wanted to put across is that now in my life I feel like I am starting to find that balance which makes me very happy.

want to recreate? outfit points:
monochromatic dark shirt (grays and blacks always look good together)
dark grey shorts (if you want to play with textures choose denim)
black statement necklace
your choice of silver or gold rings
black handbag (if it has studs even better as it adds to the edgy look)


if you are interested where I got what:
leather sleeved gray t-shirt: General Pants (currently on sale for $20)
stone-washed grey shorts: Jay Jays
gold and black bag: Kardashian Kollection (Strandbags)
studded black phone case: Sportsgirl
edgy tribal necklace: My mum's friend actually made it!
gold rings: Sportsgirl

hi i'm ellie ♥

Welcome to my blog!
I will be posting on all the things that I love and I'm going to warn you guys can be a little bit random. I'm the kind of person that always finds something to like in everything! So with all of you guys to embark on this journey with me I hope that we can all get to know each other and please don't be afraid to comment!