Leatherette Jacket| New Look| £23 (Originally £40)

I was absolutely over the moon to find this jacket, especially in the sale, I was prepared to spend around £30-35, for a nice jacket, so finding this at just over 40% off was wonderful. It wasn't originally the colour I wanted, but it did have the waterfall effect that I wanted, as well as having elastic in the arms, which is great as I often find the sleeves of jackets uncomfortable. The jacket is quite thin so I didn't realise until the next day that it has pockets, which is great, although the zips were a bit stiff, but I've managed to work that out now. This jacket goes with practically anything and I'm very much enjoying liking the clothes I'm wearing and knowing I actually look nice.

90's Dress| ASOS| £9.90 (Originally £16)

There are several things I love about this dress, the top three are; the colour, the cut and how it makes me feel. It's so comfy and it's great that the buttons are only for decoration so you never have the unfortunate incident where it's a little tight and you an see your skin/underwear through the gaps. One of the other reasons I feel great in this dress is, it's one of the only dresses that makes my boobs look like boobs and not just boobs, but good boobs, especially when worn with one of my heavenly lift bras from Primark. This dress comes in a couple of colours, I was torn between this colour and an oxblood red, however this one was cheaper, so I went with this one, along with a 10% off promotional code. This will definitely be one of my most worn dresses this summer.

The fact that I can still feel good about myself and my clothes has really given me some hope and motivation in terms of my diet and weight loss.

What are your special pieces of clothing?

And remember each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

These types of combinations are the slightly more sophisticated side to the collection, I think that by making the blouses only waist long makes the collection more different, compared to most crop style tops, which are usually bralets or sportswear. Although not every outfit make have an edge of girlishness, it's pieces like the tie cape/shrug that remind us of what some other pieces may lack.

The main colour scheme of the collection may seem to be rather cold, but later on colour was injected turning the sophisticated girlishness into just girlishness in some cases, I love the oxbloods, cherry reds, cerulean blues used, but I think the nudes, whites and blacks play much closer to the rest of the collection, with just a little added sweetness, but example the image above on the left, whereas I think with the image on the right, the combination of colours are a little garish.

Opinions please?

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

And some extreme bargains!

Yeah, you read that right bargains!

I love bargains especially super cute bargains, so I had wonderful luck getting these two beauties for

£4

Teal Floaty Top| Primark| £1 (Originally £5)

I really love the colour of this top, it reminds me of a beautiful ocean, and it's great for summer. It's made from a lovely soft floaty fabric that won't feel too heavy in the hot weather. I've had my eye on this top for a while, but just never got round to buying it, and when I spotted the skirt I thought they'd go great together, luckily there was one left, in my size and when I got to the till it had been reduced to just a quid!

White Panel Skirt| Primark| £3 (Originally £14)

This amazing skirt was my favourite find. It's such a great saving, I don't know if these skirts will be reduced in all of the Primarks, or if it was just an oddment we had from returns, but I'm glad I grabbed it before anyone else. Although not fully lined, it does have some facing to conceal the zip (however I may have to cut it out as it is a little too tight around my hips and I really want to take this skirt on holiday, 24 days away- but I am losing weight, in the past week I've lost 3lbs, on top of the 12lbs I had already lost).

Now white isn't usually a colour I wear, as it's rather impractical, having to wear white underwear, and the dirty paws of my dog that most days like to jump up to say hello.

But I thought I'd share some of the ways I plan on styling the top.

Top left: Primark Floaty Top

Top Right: Tesco F&F Floaty Cardigan turned Wrap

Bottom Left: Primark Long Sleeve Top

Bottom Right: Oasis Green Shirt.

Anyone else found any extremely good bargains lately?

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

-As a fashion design student I spend quite a bit of time looking at the collections of other designers, it can either be for inspiration, investigating technique or even styling. And because there are many amazing, creative, intuitive designers who create beautiful collections, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite either collections or designers.-

- This feature will be here every Wednesday-

This couture collection was designed by the duo; Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli. As they say when in Rome do as the Romans do, which means a huge Opera culture, which has lead to their inspiration; Fifty-Five looks for Fivety-Five Operas. Chiuri explained that they wanted to describe and embody the character of the protagonist from each Opera they chose to look at in a primordial way. Their chosen Operas included, Puccini's La Bohème and Bizet'sCarmen.

My favourite piece of the entire collection is the first image on the left; it's just so delicate and beautiful. Although the figures look more like a print than embroidery, the trim around the bodice, to me, looks like embroidery, which will have taken time and incredible conscientious patience. It is also the only piece in the collection that features human figures. The imagery of Adam and Eve is just to striking yet peaceful, I think it's the contrast of the layers and intricacy of the image on the skirt with the simple and transparent bodice that make this piece so wonderful.

Obviously with the theme of the collection being so broad within the world of opera you would expect to have some pieces that are rather different from one another, however I found that the spectrum was too vast. Although I think the piece featured next to the Adam and Eve dress is beautiful in its simplicity, it doesn't seem to fit with the theme, as I very much doubt that any character within an opera would be so simple as to be represented by this dress. That doesn't mean I don't like it, if it was knee length I would wear it, a lot, and if I was 5 inches taller and 2 sizes skinnier I'd wear it as it is.

There are aspects of the collection that also focus on animals, (I've not seen many/any operas so I can't really comment on the relevance of an animal as the protagonist, so you know) and these pieces seem quite similar in their style to come another, most feature, tulle skirts, a tight bodice and a feature relating to the animal it represents. The piece on the left embodies a snake, the right a peacock. I love the way the feathers drape down the edge of the skirt.

As I said above there are some rather big variations within the collection, but there seems to be rather large gaps between pieces in terms of modern and more traditional styles associated with opera. The piece on the left I feel is more the classic look with the heavy floral embroidery, the long length and the higher neckline, compared to the piece on the right, with it's plunging neckline and transparency. There are some pieces in the collection that I'm not so fond of that feature block illustration of animals, for example the catwalk show was concluded with a dress that featured a rather childish tiger among the grass, I much prefer the pieces above where the link to the animal is more metaphorical or symbolic. But overall, I adore this collection.

What are your opinions?

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

Black Bow Ballet Pumps| Primark| £6

Unfortauntly my nice expensive shoes from next are in need of repair, so while in work I had a little mission of finding a nice little pair black shoes that would be cute and comfy in the mean time. And I found these, they are wide fit as well as having some padding for the ball of your foot. However the padding deflated pretty quickly once you start wearing them, but it doesn't make them any less comfy.

Heavenly Lift White Bra| Primark| £5

These are my favourite bras from Primark, although they might not be the prettiest ones that give you a nice little lift (and believe me I need it), although I do have a floral one, which is currently my favourite bra. What I dislike about most Primark bras, especially the cheaper ones is the mesh that is used for the back of the bra, I find it really uncomfortable. However the fabric that the Heavenly Lift bras are made from is extremely soft and I find them incredibly comfy to wear. Big Thumbs up.

Stripy Oversized Top| New Look| £4 (in sale)

Once upon a time when I was skinnier I had a lovely stripy top from Topshop, which no longer fits nicely, and then I saw this and all I could think was I want it, I want it, so I got it, after all it was only £4, however if I had remembered correctly my old top wasn't that flattering on me, and neither is this one, but who doesn't like a good oversized top when they are trying to be comfy. In terms of styling though, it looks good with a pair of skinny jeans and a leather jacket or a nice plum/black/lace (basically anything) skater skirt. I think this top would look really nice with a pair of peachy pink skinny jeans, however that just isn't something I can pull off.

Neon Pocket Mirror| Primark| £1

When I work on the tills at work we have these bowls that are usually filled with some form of accessory, and one day there were these bright pink mirrors, and I wanted one, I wanted one so bad that I was devastated when I came into work two days later and they were gone. But when shopping with my Grandma I managed to find one, which she then bought for me (as well as the heavenly lift bra). Now, neon pink would not usually be my think, but I am strangley attracted to it, I also think it's better than the other pocket mirrors that Primark sell, as the casing seems to be a lot thicker so the mirror is less likely to break and it also has a little magnet to help keep it closed, I guess what of the good things about it being so bright is it'll be easy to find in my bag.

Has anyone else found any good bargains recently?

And remember each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

So a couple of months ago, when I first got my lovely storage cube for my little office space, I had no where for bits of make-up and nail varnish, so I just had them kind of lined up, but that wasn't very productive in terms of storage and organising! Now, in the Marks and Spencers sale I saw a lovely gold painted bowl, but when I went back to buy it, it was gone! Dun Dun Duhhhh!

So I thought I'd come up with my own version:

You will need:

A couple of tubes of glitter, colour of your choice

PVA glue

A Bowl

A paintbrush (that you don't mind getting ruined

Came to about £4.50 total.

1.

Mix in your glitter into your PVA glue, how much you will need depends on the size of the bowl, I used about half of the bottle.

(I added water to my mixture, as this is what I used to do when I was little and making things, however I strongly suggest not adding any water, as it makes the mixture run and you end up doing about a thousand coats).

2.

Start applying your glitter PVA mixture to the bowl, depending on how much glitter you put in, your mixture may look a little patchy.

3.

Allow to dry (I was rather impatient and got a hair dryer on it). 

4. 

Add another layer of mixture and allow to dry, repeat process until the dried version doesn't look quite so patchy.

5.

Once completely dried, fill with whatever you are trying to tidy away and Voila!

(Mine unfortunately came out a little patchy because I ran out of mixture, but I really love the effect.)

You can find the DIY for the earring display frame here!

This bowl may be a very simple tutorial, but it adds a bit of sparkle to my cube, which is also filled with all my lovely expensive design books.

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

First of all Happy Birthday to my wonderful Grandma, Sone, hope you're having a lovely day.

Dear GanGan,

It's been three years since you died today, and I feel your absence everyday. It's not just today that I think about you, you're always in my thoughts, but this week has been particularly upsetting for me.

I miss you.

I love that your favourite colour was pink,

And that you loved looking after the garden.

And that you'd let me "test" the meat when we came round for dinner.

But,

You won't be here to witness me become a world famous fashion designer instead of a dentist with a yacht, or fight off the robbers with my plastic red sword.

You can't tell me about how you'd drive me around the dual carriageway to get me to stop crying or fall asleep, or how I'd sing Kum-Ba-Yah to get your attention from the back of the car.

You can't drive me to my acting/singing exams (or whatever hobby I have).

You can't talk to me about psychology to distract me from being upset when you were ill.

You can't embarrass me by wearing socks and sandals (I didn't care anyway because you were my Granddad and you looked awesome).

You won't see me get married.

You won't meet your Great Grandchildren

And you can't see how happy I am in general.

You can't even read this letter.

But most importantly I can't tell you how much I love you, or how much I miss you, and that I'll always be your little MB.

And I never got to say goodbye.

I love you,

Rest In Peace,

Beth

xxx

The book begins with Leo Hertzberg, our narrator and a professor of Art History finding a painting by an unknown artist. After buying it, he seeks out the artist, who becomes a very close friend, their lives now entangled, the story becomes more about friendship and family, as well as Bill Weschler progressing career. When tragedy strikes, the book takes a darker tone and turns to desperation and depression, the effect it has on everyone's' lives fills the rest of the pages with some unexpected turns.

I enjoyed the book very much, although I studied a bit of Art History, I never found it particularly interesting, but the way the paintings are analysed and talked about in the book, always had me reaching for some form of device that had access to the internet, so I could look at the paintings for myself.

In one review I read that the person writing the article didn't enjoy the first third of the book, but that was my favourite part, it's so uncommon to have such an insightful story that for the most part has a happy tone to it, the article also stated that the tragedy was anticipated, I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting it at all, in fact I read it before I went to work, and it ruined my entire day, there was the occasional trembling lip and tear escaping from my puffy eyes.

I definitely think that 'What I Loved' is worth a read, with insightful and symbolic themes and interesting alterations of different peoples perspectives, there isn't a single page that is uninteresting.

There were times while reading it that I didn't like it, I thought the tragedies weren't needed, but then it would be a different book altogether, which you never know I may not enjoy. One of my biggest disappointment is that the work by this fictional artist does not exist, the way it's explained and the symbolism of the collections really makes me want to stumble across it in a gallery, because sometimes your imagination just can't do it justice!

I look forward to reading other books by this artist, hopefully one that stays happier for a little longer.

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

I always wanted to make this drink at home, however our local big supermarket lacked the proper ingredients, if I had the money I could have combined all the ingredients for an actual strawberry daiquiri with Pimms, however it was expensive and would get me far too drunk to just be a nice drink for a lazy day with the boyfriend.

Anyway he's the simple recipe:

A couple of ice cubes

50ml/2 shots of Pimms

100-125ml Strawberry Daiquiri mixer

Lemonade.

Method:

1. 

Add as many ice cubes as you would like.

2. 

Add in your 2 shots of Pimms (in the image above is a tequila shot glass, so it's just one of them).

3.

Add in your strawberry Daiquiri mixer, with ice it should fill about 2/3 of the glass.

4. 

Fill the rest of the glass with lemonade and mix together.

5. 

To perfect add a wedge of lime.

If you're going to use a posh cocktail glass and pretend to be a female James Bond, you will need to quarter the recipe above and miss out the ice cubes.

Just as a warning it is so yummy that you will become incredibly addicted!

You can thank me once you've tried it!

(Everything for this cocktail cost £19 and it must make at least 10 glasses worth.)

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥

For those of you who have remained loyal and occasionally checked back here from time to time may have now realised things have changed a lot.

At university we were made aware by my industry placements tutors that as we become qualified and prepare to enter the industry our presence online must be entirely professional, and because I've not exactly been in the swing of blogging for a while, I thought it was time for a new direction.

Okay, maybe not a new direction entirely, but I will definitely be focusing more on my journey as a designer; showing you guys projects from university, collections and designers I currently like and over the summer I want yo start up a mini business selling prints; mostly featuring fashion illustration, but also other cute things. Don't get me wrong I'll still be sharing things about my life outside of uni, like holidays, DIYS and recipes etc.

I feel like this is a kind of new start for my little blog;

So without further ado,

welcome to...

Beth Mac Designs

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥