What I Wore | A Suede Mini

This photo reminds me that I really need to fake tan...

You could say I might have forgotten how to blog and I think you would be right. 

For the past 3 months, I have been a walking-sleeping-eating monster student, with a brain full of facts about the monarchs of the 17th Century, trigonometric identities and the ability to analyse our economy. Meanwhile, my outfits tended to consist of comfort clothes which meant no blog posts... sigh. 

But, HALLELUJAH - just one more exam left! 

As I'm sure many of you can relate, the exam stress meant lots of new clothes. 

Bad exam? I ought to cheer myself up. 

Good exam? I ought to reward myself. 

This suedette skirt was one of my purchases and I absolutely adore it. I've seen a lot of suede around recently but struggled to find anything in my price range (*selects sort by low to high*), until I stumbled across this beautiful New Look skirt on Asos.

I also picked up these peep-toe ankle boots which are practically the exact item that I had in my mental wishlist of (imaginary) items - Asos you know me too well! The only downside to such a level of shoe perfection is the intense PAIN. These make me feel as though my toes are going to be cut off altogether, but this probably does owe to me squeezing my almost-size-6 feet into a size 5. Oh well, all in the name of fash-unnn. 

Jumper - H&M - £??

Top - Topshop - £30

Skirt - New Look @ Asos - £19.99

Boots - Asos - £42

Earrings - Claire's - £7

L a u r e n  x 

PS. Spent an hour photographing and editing these photos and then spotted the hairband on the wrist, gaaah. 

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What I Wore | An Afternoon In Paris

"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn

It seems only fitting to start this post with a very, very relevant quote from one of my very, very favourite ladies of style! Last weekend, I visited Paris for the first time ever and, oh gosh, it was even more perfect than I could ever have imagined. I visited with my very, very lovely boyfriend who kindly took these photos for me - he's not half-bad is he?! I think he might be force hired as my photographer in the future.  *

I was standing looking at the Eiffel Tower whilst this photo was being taken which is still pretty surreal! Seeing the tower in real life after seeing so many photos of it felt strange - it was so familiar yet so new and different (Words of a crazy lady, here?!). 

I wore my favourite skirt of the moment, this Topshop embroidered skirt. I love this and it means Lauren is actually wearing COLOUR (?!). I think this is so pretty and delicate, yet statement enough that it can so easily be paired with everything else plain - it's a real star of the show, don't you think? 

I've also been loving this black jumper at the moment. It's so simple but I completely adore it because of the cropped length and high neckline. I would usually wear this outfit with my velvet cat shoes but I'm pretty sure they're a size or two too small (that's what you get for buying shoes from slightly dodgy Chinese eBay sellers) and I didn't quite fancy walking round Paris with the most blistered of toes! 

I'm definitely considering doing a post on our time in Paris and what we managed to squeeze in to the 8-hours-ish that we were there, would you lovely gals be interested in that? Let me know! 

Skirt - Topshop - £42

Jumper - Topshop - £28

Coat - New Look - £49.99 

Boots - Schuh  - £45

Bag - New Look - £17.99

L a u r e n  x 

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* Note the use of 'very' SIX times in these 4 sentences, wow.

Life | 2014 Reflections & 2015 Goals (plus a hearty serving of inspirational quotes)

Of course, I set up The Fashion Ramblings to blog all things fashion and style - clothes are my obsession and I'm preeettty sure that's a habit that won't be going anywhere! But, with the start of the new year, a lifestyle post feels very necessary. After all, my first blog post optimistically states:  "I guess what I hope for this blog is that it becomes a way for me to document my life, almost like an online"  (ha ha ha...)

After reading Rachel of  Style Soup's blog post, I was completely inspired to make this into a 2014 reflections/ 2015 goals blog post. 

 2014 reflections

1. 2014 was definitely a year of memories that can never be forgotten. I attended my Year 11 prom (and nearly cried at being able to wear such an amazing (and expensive) dress), my first ever musical (it's the little things in life!) and visited Disneyland Paris with my best friends. 

2. I was so lucky to be able to share these memories with my wonderful friends, boyfriend and family, all of whom I love huge amounts! 

3. Leaving school (only to join Sixth Form, sigh...) taught me the importance of friendship and, although slightly sad (and harsh), distinguished friends for life from temporary friends 

4. I completed my GCSEs and achieved 11 A*s which I am still suffering shock symptoms from to this day 

5. I was able to grow my store, Pastel Clouds. Proudest moments included being featured in Company magazine (a pretty surreal moment) finally redesigning the website, being featured by Kristina Webb,  and  hitting 2000 sales. It may eat up every last minute of my spare time but I couldn't be prouder! 

2014 made me a very, very happy person and I am super content with my life!

2015 goals 

1. Remember the immense wisdom of Pinterest and in particular 'train your mind to see the good in everything' and 'there is always something to be thankful for'

2. Be nice - both to other people and myself - I once saw a post that challenged people to not say (or think) a single negative thing about someone, firstly for a week, then a month and then a year. I tried it before and managed for a little while but it did make me feel a huge amount happier! I also think these quote are so important: 'be nice to yourself - it's hard to be happy when someone's mean to you all the time' and 'tell people about the good you see in them' 

3. Stop being so afraid of what others think of me - people are just people.  

4. Stop with the procrastination and learn to be motivated. Stop making excuses and just do things.

5. Prioritise - apparently school work is more important than a 6 hour Gossip Girl marathon

6. Get more sleep! 

7. Stop being such a perfectionist, in every possible sense: blog, artwork, schoolwork, face, clothes, Instagram feed (first world problems)... 

8. Be a little more committed to blogging, but at the same time to not beat myself up for not posting - this is a hobby not a chore

9. Be braver with my clothes choices

10. Don't spend money on myself - until the 21st January (such commitment to this one) 

11. Buy more shoes (a slight contradiction?) 

So there we have it, my new years resolutions and 2014 reflections -  I feel enlightened  following this post (I'm joking).

 I wish all you wonderful people that stop by and read my blog posts and wish you all the happiest and most fun-filled 2015 possible! Please leave a comment down below with your New Year's resolutions, I'd absolutely love to know! 

L a u r e n  x 

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What I Wore | 50 Shades of Beige

As regularly mentioned, one of my pet hates is poor quality photos, sighh. But, it is winter and winter does not equate to pretty photos (at least not with my camera). I really must learn to stop starting every blog post with the same complaint though, I am sorry! (But if you guys have any tips, I will love you.)

My boyfriend's very lovely mother donated this scarf to me and, oh gosh, I love it! I can't help but think that it was just made to go with this beige coat; the colours match perfectly. Keeping in line with the beige/neutrals colour scheme (not black/white for once, gasp!),  I teamed these with this Zara playsuit. This is basically like wearing the biggest, loosest, comfiest pyjamas and requires no thinking about what to wear with it, perfect for those nothing-to-wear days! Finally, I added some dark lipstick, burgundy ankle boots (as always) and a super delicate choker necklace to complete the look.

Playsuit - Zara - £30 (ish)

Coat - Primark - £23

Scarf - Mulberry - £?

Ankle boots - H&M - £29.99

Choker - Miss Selfridge - (part of a set)

L a u r e n  x 

PS. Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin to keep updated on future posts (I'll love you forever!)

PPS. Have you tried Primark's cosy tights? I'm wearing them here, they are lined with fleece... Oh gosh - to die for!!

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What I Wore | Mom Jeans, Stripes and Tartan

When it comes to jeans, I tend to take a if-they-aren't-cutting-off-circulation-to-my-feet-they-aren't-for-me sort of approach. So, finally purchasing a pair of Mom jeans from Asos was kind of a big deal for me (even if they were called 'Slim Mom Jeans').  

I'm still undecided whether I do actually like them and my feelings towards them change daily. Pros so far is not having to do that skinny jean dance when getting dressed and that post-dinner food babies are hidden nicely by the high waist. Definite cons are that I cannot find anything to wear with them (other than this top which does in fact belong to my sister) and also you get kind of a breeze up your ankles when the wind blows.

Feel free to send some Mom jean outfit inspo photos my way, I am a girl in need of some fashion help! 

Jeans - Asos - £32

Top - Zara - £?

Ankle boots - Schuh - £45

Scarf - Primark - £? 

Scrunchie - Stitch By Lou B - £1.50

Belt - Asos - £6

Glitter socks - Topshop - £3.50

L a u r e n  x 

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What I Wore | Jones + Jones Jessie Dress Black

Beauuuuutiful dress, the poorest quality photos. Story of my life, hey?

Let me begin with THE biggest apology. I seem to have been MIA over five weeks, but I do have some excuses (in case you were interested):

• Sixth form life is craaazy hectic - "I want to leave sixth form now" is a recurring thought every 5-10 minutes;
• My store, Pastel Clouds, is also craaazy hectic, thanks to lots of lovely Christmas shoppers (definitely not a complaint, however); 
•  I have had a cold for the past week and ain't nobody wan' see this snotty face and eye bags; 
• The lighting is driving me CRAAAZY. As much as I love the dark, cosy winter evenings, it is not appropriate for blogging. See above pictures for example - let's just pretend the grain is meant to be on these photos? 

So as you can see there's a lot of crazy going on (or basically, I am incapable of priorities and life in general).

But anyway, enough of my moaning. 

A few nights ago was my sixth form's Christmas dinner (yes, in November...) and I was lucky enough to be able to wear this STUNNING Jones + Jones dress, which is quite possibly my new favourite item of clothing. The signature Jones + Jones tutu style skirt is my favourite and I just can't help but want to twirl around everywhere (I dreamed of being a ballerina as a child, goal achieved?). The sweetheart/bardot neckline combined with said tutu skirt makes the most beautiful twist on the classic LBD. I couldn't recommend anyone better than Jones + Jones for you lovely ladies looking for Christmas party dresses (or just a cheeky little self-indulgent treat)!

I teamed this with my trusty £9 New Look sale heels which I battled with all evening - dancing in heeels (or walking for that matter), is an art I am yet to master.

Watch out for future posts featuring Jones + Jones dresses - between my sister and I, we are building quiiite a collection...!

Dress c/o Jones + Jones - £

Shoes - New Look (sale) - £9

L a u r e n  x 

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What I Wore | Grid on grid

This is an impostor, can you tell...?!

A little while ago, one of the shopping centres near me had a student night which meant extra student discounts on almost all of my favourite shops, hallelujaaahhh! Discounts - what better excuse to spend money on things you didn't realise you needed?! 

I picked up this grid print dress from H&M for around £10 with the discount (it's usually only 12.99 anyway), which I completely love - so comfortable and easy to wear! I also picked up this super cosy tartan coat in New Look. With an £11 discount, I definitely had to buy it, regardless of the other five coats of the same style which I already own (I don't have one this colour though, so it doesn't matter, right?)

In other news, I went to Ed Sheeran's concert at the O2 last Sunday (this was what I wore). He was incredible and I love him even more now, I didn't realise it was possible! We were pretty far from the stage, there was a very drunk man singing loudly in front of us and we had to pay £7.50 just for a portion of chips and a drink, but there definitely was no way that anything at all could ruin how completely amazing the concert was. Have any of you been to the X tour? What did you think?

Coat - New Look - £54.99

Dress - H&M - £12.99

Boots - H&M - £29.99

Bag - Ted Baker - £199

L a u r e n  x 

PS. Be sure to follow me on Bloglovin to keep updated on future posts (I'll love you forever!)

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