Is anyone else going winter shopping?

 

I was planning to wear this outfit   this autumn/winter but my plans where shattered by the awful frosty wind (and the horrible weather in general) that has been recently sweeping the nation. grr, I hate weather like this, where its neither snow, rain or sun. It's just dull, cloudy and cold with a bit of drizzle. But then again, don't we all? I normally wear shorts all year round, of course during the cold days I pair them up with tights or leggings, but it's only the beginning November yet it already feel like the middle of winter, here in London, so I'm assuming that I'd most probably freeeeeeze in shorts, even with the thickest pair of tights underneath. So unfortunately I must ditch them and buys some new warm trousers.Infact, must refresh my whole wardrobe with a load of winter clothes  

 which can only mean one thing:

SHOPPING TIME! I'm on a special watch out for a faux fur coat - essential this winter. I'm loving  this one from UO, but its way over my budget :(

 As I won't be squeezing on my shorts anytime soon, I thought I'll make a tribute to them by posting some photos :)

SCARVES. I like scarves :)

A little edit I did with Picnik.

 http://www.picnik.com/

.

What I'm wearing: A scarf from a market in Poland, A coat from Primark, Shorts from a charity shop

Belt from a charity shop. Last two images above: Scarf from a market in Poland,Short denim jacket from a charity shop, a primark vest,  Jeggins from New Look♥

I  bought some military leather"winter shoes" last weekend, from River Island

I love the look of them and they are really comfy.

I wore them recently and I thought my toes where going to accually freeze off.

So I established they won't be able to handle the job of "winter shoes"

which is quite a shame as I do love them.

SKY. random much?

I really liked the sky the other day :)

This is a bit out-of-no-where but ;about two weeks ago, I discovered this little boutique called Terminal D in Covent Garden (although I forgot to include it in my previous post) in which they sell these lovely vintage and floral clothes and accessories, but what mostly stood out to me were these lovely small chain handle box bags (below) and vintage satchels/brief cases (last image)

they're just yummy

what do you think?

love Karo ♥

all my own pictures

Terminal D: Thomas Neal Centre, WC2 9LD

Friday: National Gallery, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus ♥

Exploring Continued.

On Friday, myself and Deanna made a  journey into Central London. We took the train to Piccadilly circus and decided we'll just have a look around. Below, you can see Deanna, looking busy with her 'robot phone' as I like to call; it features so many apps and is almost like a mini portable robot :). Anyway.... 

We ended up in Trocadero, which is mainly a massive three floor arcade. Although fully aware that they are a complete waste of money, we spent almost an hour on the 10p machines, which turned out to be a waste of time, as we left with nothing won . Then we skimmed past Leicester square and somehow arrived at the national gallery. I've never been before but I've heard some really good reviews, so I was looking forward to it. I managed to take a few photos before getting told to put my camera away and almost threatened of being chucked out, which I believe wasn't really fair due to the fact that most of the paintings can be found on the Internet without any trouble. Here's an painting by George Stubbs, which I really admire. It's a painting of a life size pony.

Then we went to Covent Garden in which we found some really cool shops such as Urban Outfitters, The official Doc Marten store and Rokit (pictured below) which has superduper vintage items of all sorts- handbags, shoes, purses and of course clothes-and the prices are reasonable. I highly recommend popping in, especially if your a vintage-lover, like meeeeeeeee ♥

Just as we were going through Covent Garden we popped into the little stores in the Piazza, such as Octopus, David And Goliath and of course the glorious Candy Cakes, which has cupcakes that looked like they had been hand-painted on the spot :)

The entertainment in covent garden is great; stand up comedians, clowns, performers, what more could you want?

A stall with colourful accessories

Covent Garden has it all- the live entertainment, the modern and vintage stores, the loooveely food and of course the market; with jewelery , hats, scarves and pretty accessories. It's so convenient and has a slightly vintage theme to it yet the place is so current and there's that refreshing vibe.

I LOVE LONDON.

PS: Just a quick question.

I found these really gorgeous shoes(below) in a little shop called Tomcat Leather for about 55 pounds (29 Neal Street Covent Garden) although I'm not too sure they would be suitable for the cold winter that's emerging rapidly.

Advice needed QUICK.

Should I get them or leave'em?

x

Love, Karo ♥

all my own pictures

Exploring London: Day One - around Chinatown, Manga Store and The Shoe Boutique

I've decided that this half term was spent well. I had the time and opportunity to visit all kinds of must-go-to places around central London;(including the national galery,which I have never been to before; pretty shocking.) all in the space of one week which was pretty exciting. (Although Beyond Retro still remains on my list). I'm accually on the verge of becoming Dora the Explorer.I took plenty of photos because I knew I won't be going there anytime soon. On Tuesday I went to Chinatown with my friends which was lovely as I haven't been since Chinese New Year in 2008. My friend, Jesse, who has a quirky obsession with Manga(which is a name given to comics, books and print cartoons based animated Japanese people) made us go to HUGE Manga store nearby.  We were all pretty much dreading it, apart from Jesse ofcourse,  until we entered it. To my surprise, it was one of the most exciting stores that I've been to; think Disney Store but with Manga and anything for a movie Fan(they even sold Twilight dolls). In the corner, sat a wax figure of Spider Man , observing you as you entered and as you descended into the ground floor, above you there was something in the form of a mini spaceship, attached to the ceiling. In contrast to the geeky-but-cool stuff, there was whole two stands dedicated to Hello Kitty - Calling Hello Kitty Fans! I have never though something so not-my-kinda-thing could bring such fascination; but that's the thing about London, its a city full of surprises.

GOSH, cover up.

 Later on in the day, we came across this gorgeous shoe boutique called Author. It was so all homey, cute and posh. The window display (pictured) immediatly grabbed my attention, so much I had to take a picture. I found a lovely pair of Vivienne Westwood ballerina pumps pictured (below), which you don't really find in the avarage shoe store.

Calling all fashionistas, shoe-hollics and vintage lovers; this is a place for you ♥

Author

 76-78 Charing Cross Road

WC 2H 0BD

Nearest Tube; Leicester Square

MY BABIES! ^

(Other nice shoes)

 The staff was really nice too

I suggest you pay a little visit.

MORE SHOES :)

During out exploring, me and my friends came across this weird looking thing.

"strange is beautiful"

Keep a look out on Exploring London Day 2; Covent Garden, National Art Gallery, and Rokit (the queen shop of Vintage)

Love Karo ♥

All my own pictures

The Significance of a handbag.... and a moral ♥

According to Vogue....

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE BAG INDEED, VOGUE. Just as I was thinking about doing a post on bags (while cleaning my room) I stumbled across this years May issue of Vogue. I flicked through it and found this great article on handbags and their colossal impact. and that's when I realised no matter how hard i tried, I could not express the importance of a handbag better than Vicky Woods (Vogue). So instead I took a photo of some of these very accurate quotes

 

Above, you can see my Tapestry Tote/holdall (not too sure what to call it) or in the word's of my fashion-clueless friend " an Old Lady's bag"  "It's VICTORIAN VINTAGE" i tell him. I do love it: its handy, not too big, not too small, perfect size. Although I did feel slightly awkward wearing it because my mum managed to convince me that it wasn't really "suitable for my age" which was then seconded by my friend : "you've bought that old Lady's bag with you again!"

UNTIL one day on my way to school about three weeks ago, I saw about 5 school girls around my age wearing incredibly similar bags to my one above and I was like "hmmmm".   I decided to do some research and exploring; take a look at these below

River Island:

brown tapestry satchel.

£36.99

New Look

NOW £18.74 WAS £24.99

Tapestry Design Bag

• Price: £40.00

Tapestry Frame Purse

£10.00

SEE THE RESEMBLANCE?

I couldn't believe that these popular clothing stores were overloaded with Tapestry handbags, selling like hot cakes, while I was hiding mine in shame, afraid someone will accuse me of wearing an "old Lady's handbags" once again.

Well never again! I shall proudly lay my handbag on my shoulder ,expose the greatness of the tapestry patterns,  ignore the comments of both my mother and my friend and by no means feel awkward wearing it. I have learnt my lesson; do not let comments against your style influence it in anyway.

 1. Vintage leather satchel - charity shop   2.Tapestry tote/holdall- grandma    3. Marc B twister/padlock bag- TKMaxx  4. Fashion Journal- Tiger

IN CHINATOWN ^

WOW.

WOOOOOOOOOW I saw these gorgeous floral Doc Martens for 74.99 pounds in a window display in Westfields London, however, I was in too much of an amazement to accually  remember the store. BUT NO WORRIES; with the help of the little price holder I can make out it says "Schuh" which is a footwear store on the second floor of Westfields, near Zara, as far as I can remember.

It was love at first sight. I almost licked the window (as I couldn't enter the actual store- it was closed) but no worries, I managed to control my self

SO I took a photo instead......

OK you may not like it, understandable.

Some people aren't into docs.

WAIT, NO, WHAAAT? HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE IT?

______________________

Although the official website states that "Prints Originals have become a summer staple for more than a decade"  it was only recently that these Vintage Rose and Victorian Flower patterned Doc Martens appeared in stores as far as I'm concerned. And It was also recently (we're talking like 40 years ago, here) that Doc's became popular among different groups of society other than punks and skinhead, because throughout the 1970's and 1980's The Doctor Marten boot was STILL a key aspect of rebel youth-wear.  

THE HISTORY OF DOC MARTENS

^Once up on a time, in the gory years of World War II, lived a doctor named Klaus Martens who has served in the German army. One Day, whilst on his vacation in 1945, during skiing in the Baravian Alps he has injured his ankle. Although this was quite an unfortunate experience (for him) it was the outcome of one of the greatest fashion inventions of the century, as well as a start of a new trend, a new era.  He noticed that the army boots provided were too uncomfortable for his painful wound therefore during his recovery, he made some major improvements to the boots by adding air padded soles and soft leather. Once the Second World War was brought to an end, many Germans stole valuables from their cities. Marten thought that leather would come in handy. With the stolen leather he made himself a pair of boots, which were later thoroughly developed with the help Dr. Herbert Funck. In the year 1952 they had opened they own company as the sales of their handmade shoes were going incredibly well. Since then Doc Martens became a craze, not only among skinheads and punks but (believe it or not) housewife’s and females in their 40’s.  Doc Martens has won two awards for their 14-hole black leather boot won two fashion awards; one for the 'most popular men's footwear in latest fashion' and the other for 'best counter-cultural footwear of the decade'.

And everyone lived happily ever after, Proudly Striding  around the world in the magnificent Doc Martens.

Here are few more examples of the floral doc's

DR MARTENS 1460 BOOTS - TAUPE VICTORIAN FLOWERS

 

Dr Martens Ladies Mini Tydee

PRINT 1460 8-EYE BOOTOFF WHITE CLOUD ROSE


The three images above from the official doc Marten website:
www.drmartens.com.
you can find all the details and prices there.
I do not own.

PS:  AGYNESS DEYN WEARS DOC'S TOO :)
LOVE HER.

image from: http://messynessychic.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/screen-shot-2010-09-10-at-08-16-11.png?w=233&h=497

SO what do you think of Doc Martens? A bit too bulky? A bit too "punky"
do you like the floral docs? what makes you love docs?

This is me.

I love love love my mums denim jacket. We have pretty much established that it  belongs to me as I am VERY strongly attached to it. It gives that EDGE to the outfit

but at the same time enhances the innocence of the dress.

I'm wearing a headband that i made in litrellaly 10minutes.

(although you can't see it very well, apologies for that my dearies)

Im planning to write about my headband making method in my following blogg

so if your interested keep a lookout for it :D

I must admit, the heart shaped sunnies ARE from Primark: i feel slightly ashamed to admit that, due to Primarks terrible reputation for making little kids working in their factories, but then again I do love the sunnies, and i shall not deny it. Infact, many other companies have children working their factories in LEDC(less economically developed countries, that geography lesson did come in handy ;) ) however people failed pay attention they only aim for the obvious so the spot light is on Primarche (as some people like to call it)

 BUT ANYWAY, lets move on to the image of my Harajuku perfume below.

This is the doll part of my perfume, used as a the lid. THAT IS ONE FUNKY LID I TELL YOU. It is majorly the main part of the perfume as a whole, which all the girls adore. The gorgeous fragrance is called Harajuku Lovers; Music by Gwen Stefanie. And as you may have known she is absolutely obsessed with Harajuku girls; she even made a song about them, take a peek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YbGN1BMSLc

My hand is the light source :)

Holding my precious Harajuku Lovers Perfume

HARAJUKUUUUUU POWEERRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Denim Jacket from my mother (purchased from a charity shop, i suppose.

The label says Vertus Jeans, not quite sure where that is, appologies)

Dress from River Island

Sunnies as mention previously from primark

perfume - Boots