Anna Seward and Botanical Elements Within Poetry

Anna Seward’s poem “The backwardness of spring accounted for” was written in 1783 and depicts botanical ideas and imagery throughout. The poem was most likely inspired by Deliciae Naturaeor ‘The Delights of Nature” the famous speech delivered by Linnaeus when his office as Rector at the University of Uppsala. The poem ranks botanical elements in some kind of hierarchy and gives them all a certain level of status, such as referring to grass as downtrodden peasantry. The poem praises Linnaean botany and its discoveries, thus introducing a hierarchy amongst the different plants as that was an integral part of Linnaean botany. Along with talking about different elements within nature, the poem also makes a link to children and the impact that the theme botany has on   Section of poem addresses children and childhood saying “Rejoice then my Children the hour is at hand When Botanical knowledge shall govern the land When the people of England with small pocket glasses Shall spend all their time in examining grasses When every School boy that pulls up a  hex [?] With pliars and needles shall search  for its sex When Gardener’s Girls their bouquets shall compose Corresponding in rank with their Customers nose Yes, yes, I perceive the great moment approaches When buds of distinction shall ride in their Coaches[…]”. This section of the poem highlights the fact that one day everyone in England, even school children will have an extensive interest and array of knowledge on the topic of botany and it will become a very popular hobby of sorts. The mentioning of children becoming fascinated and knowledgeable about botany shows us how Seward believes that botany is an important part of a child’s education and can help form and shape their minds for adulthood. This links to the ideas of famed physician of the period John Locke who believed that human nature is characterised by reason and tolerance. He believed that behaviour in children should be motivated by the “esteem or disgrace” they receive from their parents. As the children’s parents were most likely fascinated by Botany as many other adults were it would mean that children were encouraged by their parents to enjoy botany.The image above titled “Flora at play with Cupid” shows the two young gods sitting in a beautiful garden and playing together. This aspect of including the idea of botany with playing and having fun shows audiences how important entertainment is to children and their growth and how they should grow from the things available around them in order to become successful adults in the future. Having a skill for botany and attaining that knowledge is a useful skill for children to have and also keeps them grounded and connected to nature and the world around them.

 

 Emily Dimond

Wordsworth and the Industrial Revolution

Wordsworth and the Industrial Revolution:

Wordsworth was a romantic poet born in 1770 in Cockermouth, England. As a poet he  on every aspect of nature and beautified it. Most of Wordworth’s poetry highlights the topic of the sublime in nature and how beautiful our surroundings are. He brought out the hidden, true beauty of life and showed it to all those who read his work. Romantic artists' work was based on creating images that portrayed everything as being beautiful and expressed the simple life. The centre of all their work was nature. Wordsworth and other romantics in the period believed that nature was the window to life and life’s meaning. Wordsworth believed that nature and plant life held the answer to a happy and healthy life for everyone. He tried to express to his readers through his poetry that the factories and mines brought by the industrial revolution were the cause of the social and economic problems of the period. Wordsworth wrote the poem “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” expressing these feelings saying “This City now doth, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep in his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!". These lines show us how beautiful Wordsworth thought nature was and how important it is for people’s mental health as nature keeps people calm and at peace with the world. Wordsworth wrote about how beautiful nature is and how much of a positive impact it has on day to day life. These positive poems on the sublime made readers aware of how much damage the industrial revolution was doing to nature and plant life at the time. Forests and green areas were being torn down and converted into space for machinery and factories. The impact of the pollution caused by said factories was also an issue as it was slowly destroying the plant life that still remained. Many poems written in this time period also mention how destructive the industrial revolution was. For example, William Blake’s poem, The Tyger personifies the industrial revolution and the destruction it has caused throughout the period. As botany and nature were both very important themes during the 19^thcentury it was absolutely devastating when the muse of the Romantics was beginning to be taken away with them.

Wordsworth wrote many poems about the impact that nature has on children, specifically himself when he was a child. Wordsworth’s poem “The Prelude” was one of his great pieces of work which is him narrating his own childhood and upbringing until he leaves for university. Wordsworth talks about the wonder of nature and how much of a connection he felt to it as a child. One instance is when Wordsworth is ice skating with friends and is distracted by a beautiful star in the sky, so he leaves his friends and skates away to admire the nights sky. This shows us how Wordsworth felt a strong connection to nature as a child, thus him expressing that nature is an important factor in the upbringing of a child. A similar theme is featured in Wordsworth’s poem “Lines Written in Early Spring” in which he says “tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathed”. This personification of the flowers within the poem links to the attitudes of botany in the period. In general botany plants were seen to be personified and respire just like humans do. This is an example of Wordsworth romanticising this theory and making it seem beautiful and sublime. As this was the aim of the Romantics, Wordsworth made a huge point in expressing that Botany and plant life is a huge part of living a happy and healthy life. Depicting flowers as ethereal creatures helps to promote the positivity of botany and how important it is to the upbringing of children in order to make them grounded individuals. People who have a closer relationship to nature, like Wordsworth, seem to live happier lives than those solely focused on money and materialistic items.

Emily Dimond

The History of Children's Literature

The History of Children’s Literature

Literature has been a huge part of life since time began. Books have been used to entertain and educate mankind for centuries and continues to be a huge part of life to this day. The idea of literature aimed at children became a very important thought as  and entertaining young people will help to create a brighter future. For hundreds of years  stories were told through storytelling and myths which were spoken to children to teach them a lesson or simply help them to sleep at night. Stories of mythical creatures and faraway  became an important part of a child’s upbringing. The first modern children's book was written in the mid-18th-century in England. The growth of polite middle-class behaviour and the influence of the philosopher John Locke’s theories of childhood innocence combined to highlight the importance of childhood education and growth. ‘A Little Pretty Pocket Book’, was written and published in 1744 by John Newberry and is widely considered the first modern children's book. The book consisted of rhymes for each letter of the alphabet to help children learn the  letters. To promote the children’s book, it came with a ball for a boy and a pincushion for a girl. Although this book seems simple it was an important development which helped to shape children’s literature in the future. As the book was also educational, it helped with the schooling of children also and encouraged them with their studies. The book had many illustrations of the English countryside and the great outdoors. This meant that children that lived in the country would respect their surroundings and appreciate them, and children born in the city can see the importance and beauty of nature. Using botanical imagery within the book helped to make the book eye catching and keep the children interested in what they were reading and learning. The bright colours known to attract children also helped them to be drawn into the idea of reading a book.

Another great movement within children’s literature was The Brothers Grimm who preserved and published traditional tales which originated from Germany. The stories were a massive success and they were so popular that realistic children’s literature became uninteresting and only fairy tales were being read by children at the time. The Danish author Hans Christian Anderson did a similar thing and gathered fairy tales from around Europe and created and published his own fairy tales too. In 1812 the Swiss writer Johann David Wyss published the Swiss Family Robinsonin order to teach children about family values, good husbandry and self-reliance. The book became even more popular after being translated into French by Isabelle de Montolieu. Then came the Golden Age of literature which introduced Lewis Carroll’s tale, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandwhich was the first children’s novel to introduce the themes of the bizarre within it. The novel was regarded the first English masterpiece written for children. Other successful children’s books were also released in this period such as, Treasure Island, The Jungle Bookand Tom Sawyer. All of these books are still extremely popular children’s stories to this day and have all had a massive impact on the way children’s literature has been written since.

Then came the 19^thcentury which is when children’s literature well and truly became a success. At the end of the Victorian era Beatrix Potter published her classic book The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The books also and beautiful illustration which helped the children to concentrate and imagine the animals and how they looked, thus making the story more engaging. Potter was seen to be the first author to use pictures as well as words to tell a story. The Kailyard school of Scottish writers helped to bring the idealised version of society back into popularity and helped to make the fantasy genre fashionable once more. Writers such as J.M Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, and Kenneth Grahame who wrote The Wind in the Willows both helped to bring back the wonder of children’s literature and fairy tales. The Golden Age of Children’s Literature ended with World War I and publishing became a lot more of a slow process. The main exceptions in England were the publications of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne I 1926 and Mary Poppinsby P. L. Travers which have both since been put on the silver screen by global conglomerate Disney. With the introduction of the paper back we see Enid Blyton and The Famous Fivewho travelled across England on many adventures. These bestselling books became a motivation for kids to see the great outdoors as they would want to explore the countryside solving mysteries just as The Famous Fiveand The Secret Seven did.

In present day literature we still see the fantasy genre remaining the most popular within children’s literature as J.K Rowling’s Harry Potterseries of seven novels can be seen to be the one of the bestselling book series ever to be created as the series has been translated into 67 languages and sold all across the globe. Children’s literature still remains a massive market and is still a huge success globally.

Emily Dimond

Italy Photo Diary

 As summer is very fast approaching I've been looking through photos of last summer to get me in the mood. As i haven't shared these photos from my holiday in beautiful Bari, Italy i thought why not post them now. The small towns were so beautiful and everything looked like it was from an old film. So this is what i saw through my little lens, I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as i do.

Next Level Denim

Sorry that this post is up late I've been really M.I.A recently, I had surgery and really didn't feel up to blogging this past week. But guess whose back, back again..... unfortunately not slim shady. Anyways whilst ive been off I discovered this little beauty. im sure you've all seen and drooled over the Alexa Chung AG jeans collection, mainly the beautiful military denim dress. Miss Selfridge released the perfect dupe to get the Alexa look but before I could grab my purse it was gone. Fortunately, Topshop realeased their denim offering and its a beauty. After seeing this on Media Marmalade I had to snatch it up. The light weight fabric is great for the upcoming warmer weather and the Denim and D-ring detail is perfect for the 70's trend of this season. I seriously cant get enough of this trend.

If you enjoyed this post and love the Alexa Chung collection as much as I do feel free to leave a comment down below.

Emily x

Recent Reads

Since my birthday I've been buying a lot of books which I've absolutely loved. Some are books every blogger has talked about and others are not so popular and deserve so much more love. So I decided to give a quick overview of my top 3 books of the moment, here we go.

 

How to be Parisian

is written by a collection of Parisian writers including Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret, and Sophie Mas. To put it simply the book gives an overview of a true parisienne and her attitude towards life. With pieces on love, style and bad habits. My favourite part of the book was the section on having one expensive staple item that will last forever and pull your whole closet together. I have definitely taken that advice without knowing by having a hat permanently stuck to my head for over a year. The book is stereotypically French but does it in such a humorous and subtle way that makes everyone identify with Parisian life.

 

Not That Kind of Girl

Is written by actress, author and screenwriter Lena Dunham. I have loved Lena for quite a while since falling in love with her character on Girls. Lena is hilarious and her honesty makes me wonder why everyone isn't straight up about things. Lena mostly talks about her own life experiences and how she dealt with them. The book just seems really familiar to me and its really comforting to know that someone as amazing as Lena goes through the same struggle as us people who aren't best friends with Taylor Swift (seriously is she friends with everyone?).

 

The Dress

Is written by my absolute favourite fashion illustrator of all time Megan Hess. Megan is an Australian illustrator who has done works for the likes of Tiffany's, Chanel, Dior, Cartier and Montblanc. Her drawings just show the outfits so well and are just astoundingly beautiful. When I went into Urban Outfitters last week and spotted her book I screamed a little, no exaggeration. The book shows 100 iconic moments in fashion arranged into categories of designers, weddings, film and music which gives such a wide variety of looks. Each drawing is crafted so well alongside a description and background of the dress. The book is so beautiful from cover to cover (not to mention it looks beautiful on my bookshelf).

 

So those are the books I've been reading and if you have any book recommendations for me or have read any of these books, feel free to leave a comment below!

Emily x

Band Of Gypsies

Dress-Band Of Gypsies at Topshop

Boots- New Look

Jacket-H&M

Bag-Kate Spade

As Spring is coming up I thought I'd get some more weather appropriate pieces to start the transition. Of course the piece was black. I am a creature of habit, so when stepping out of my comfort zone with an item I always go for a black option.

 This beautiful dress is from the brand Band Of Gypsies which sells 70's themed vintage pieces, perfect for this years SS15 trends. The brand is heavily influenced by global travel and vintage fashion throughout their collections which is best described as "modern take on romantic bohemia". I really surprised myself with this dress as its really not something I would usually go for. But after seeing the velvet detailed flute sleeved I caved. It is surprisingly the most comfortable dress ever, and also comes with a slip underneath that a normal human can actually put on (yes, they have answered our prayers, or at least mine anyway). This is great as I struggle to find slips of a good length to suit different dresses.  I think this dress is absolutely  perfect for my summer trip to New York in July as the lightweight fabric is not stuffy at all. After buying this and wearing it, even in the rain, I've decided to really commit to the 70's trend throughout my SS wardrobe.

Stylish Amish

Shirt-Zara

Jeans-Topshop

Bracelet-Thomas Sabo

Rings-(pearl) Pandora (greek print) silver shop in Athens

Bag-Kate Spade



As it was my birthday on Friday last week I took a trip into town with some friends and yet again spent all of my money in Zara. I saw this shirt featured on a wishlist somewhere and decided I needed it. I feel the black bow ribbon gives a different edge to your normal white shirt, along with its embossed detail and flute sleeves gives an original twist. I've wanted a shirt like this for the longest time but there was always something that was off, whereas with this shirt I literally cant fault it.

 I was also given a Thomas Sabo bracelet for my birthday. I have quite a few charm bracelets and I find their is always some kind of drawback with them. However, this bracelet is both casual and formal as its just a simple black band with silver hardware and a charm. The charm I have on here is a black stiletto heel which is intricately detailed and is so beautiful. I wore some plain black jeans boots and a floppy wide brimmed hat as always. I love the look of this outfit and I cant wait to wear my shirt with other cuts and shades.

Transition Boho

 Dress-H&M

Jumper-Forever 21

Jacket-H&M

Pins-(Old)

Boots-New Look

Hat-Urban Outfitters

Bag-Kate Spade New York

 

Recently I've been loving the 70's trend which is one of the main predicted trends for SS15. I'm always very cautious when trying new trends and I wanted to ease myself into this one. So on a recent trip to Cheshire I decided to give it a go and wear a dress with over the knee boots. I bought this dress in the summer and hadn't really worn it until now and I don't really know why as fabric is so soft. To make this look more winter appropriate I paired it with a cropped jumper and a leather jacket. I also found these really cute pins of a figure skate and Pikachu and I decided to pin them on to give diversity to the jacket. And obviously I wore my hat as it really wouldn't be an outfit of mine without some wide brimmed goodness.

If you liked this post please feel free to leave a comment below about your opinion on the SS15 trends or if you have an idea of what you would like to see from me.

Emily x

The Yeti

As it's my birthday very soon, i thought I would treat myself to this little beauty. On a recent visit to London i spotted it and it was love at first sight. The fur is of impeccable quality, as usual for Zara (but with a large price tag to match). But after a while it was reduced in the winter sales, so I had to have it.

I have always adored the look of faux fur for a transition from or to winter piece. It gives a classic and elegant vibe but injects a modern twist to a boring yet functional outfit. It's surprisingly warm and i think I've well and truly fallen in love with it. Next winter i won't be so fearful of fur and welcome the trend with open arms.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you've tried out fur or have any post recommendations.

Emily x

Top Gun

  Jacket-Topshop

T Shirt- BDG

Jeans-Topshop

Boots-New Look

Bag-Kate Spade

Sunglasses- Topshop

 

Recently, I went through my wardrobe and did a bit of a clear out. I wanted to keep all of the things that I wear the most and unnecessary trend pieces were thrown away. Looking through my old coats I found this little gem. Its almost like an aviator jacket but all black with a suede exterior. It is SO comfy I cant get over it. I got it in the Topshop sale about two years ago. I remember when I bought it I wasn't so fussed over it but now I am so in love with it. I also have noticed I've really been taking inspiration from 80's movies recently (not as bad as it sounds) and I think with the aviator jacket and glasses I'm channelling Maverick from Top Gun. (my likeness to Tom Cruise is as you can see insane).

 

I also repurchased some staple pieces recently such as my black jeans, white t shirt and boots. I am especially in love with the boots. I have been after a pair like this since I saw some featured on one of my favourite blogs  Media Marmalade. They have a really minimalistic style to them and look a lot more expensive than they are. On this rare occasion it was also sunny enough for sunglasses, could there be an Indian summer on our way?

 

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any requests or questions.

 

Emily x

The Prince Of Wales

I've had my eye on this coat for the longest time. Every time I went in Urban Outfitters I would drool over its beauty. I never had the guts to actually buy it as I wasn't sure it would fit into my wardrobe and it was way over my price range. In a quick visit to the January sales I saw that it was reduced and of course I couldn't resist.

I'ts a beautiful brushed statement coat in a Prince of Wales check, which I find is quite a rare pattern in outerwear. I must admit it makes me feel like a business woman of past times trying to make a statement in the office with a kick-ass coat. Since I bought it I see people wearing it everywhere so I'm guessing other people have the same obsession I do. I decided to pair it with my favourite new piece, my black roll neck from Zara. As I was walking a lot this day throughout the town I decided to remain comfortable and wear my boots, which have definitely seen better days, and my cigarette trousers from Topshop. I have also started watching Gossip Girl this week (no regrets) and its my new obsession. This coat definitely makes me feel like I could be on my way to Henri Bendel's and be slightly closer to fitting in with the crowd of the Upper East Side.

Another coat added to my collection, when will is stop buying them? apparently never. If you liked this post please feel free to comment below.

Emily x

Andy Warhol

I've had these beautiful boots for a while now but I didn't really know what to wear with them. Then I came to the realisation that I could just wear them with tailored trousers and a palette of navy and black, nothing new there. I got them from New look and I chose an over the knee style but with a flatter heel as walking long distances, like I do, in heeled over the knee boots would probably kill me.I absolutely love the fact that they are so comfy and they have probably become my favourite boots by far.I have also gone crazy with the turtle necks recently as well. Although  I know that Steve Jobs and Andy Warhol were probably the first people out there to be a part of this trend I decided to give it a shot and attempt to not look like a middle aged man.

I have also been giving the minimalist life style ago as I absolutely love the minimalist/scandi style. I have started this off by trying to de-clutter my handbags and carry a smaller bag when appropriate. This black jewelled box clutch is perfect as it has a chain for day wear and you can detach it for wearing on an evening, who doesn't love a good 2-in-1?

If you liked this post or have any post requests please feel free to leave a comment below.

Emily x

The Cape

                                                                   

 I have really been craving coats recently. This is not a new thing for me as I often find myself gravitating towards the outerwear sections, as I use coats and jackets to dress up outfits as I generally prefer more simple pieces. Ever since I saw the beautiful Arabella Golby wearing a cape I knew that I had to get my hands on one. The one I originally had my eye on was over £100 and I didn't really want to invest that much money in a piece I was only trying out so I abandoned the idea. I then spotted this beauty in, none other than, Next. It was reduced in the sale to half the price so I picked it up.

 

I love this cape in particular as it has buttons to fasten it. I know some capes have hooks or don't fasten at all which I feel would be a problem for me, as I'm so clumsy I could just see it falling off my shoulders all the time. As this is the first outfit I've styled with a cape I went for utter simplicity with a crisp white shirt. I love the way the white sleeves poke out in contrast with the cape and I think it looks timeless.  I then paired it with some plain black jeans from Topshop and boots from Boohoo a couple of years ago.

 

I hope you liked this look, feel free to leave a comment below.

 

Emily x

New Years House Party

 

For what seems like the first time in forever I am actually doing something on New Years Eve. Me and my friends decided to keep it casual and have a house party which I have been nominated to host. As I know most New Years outfit posts are inspiration for an amazing party or some kind of work do but I decided to do a more casual look for the people who don't get up to as much on New Years. For the people like me who don't do anything apart from consuming too many crisps or nibbles and attempting to sing along with Old Lang Syne as we all know no one really knows the words.

 

As this is going to be casual I decided to wear my cream and lace jumper from Zara which is probably the softest thing I own. The colour is so crisp even though it isn't white which is something I struggle to find in cream pieces. I paired it with my cigarette trousers from Topshop which are the perfect length when paired with some pointed suede court shoes, mine are from New Look.

 

Then I had great difficulty deciding on which bag to wear and eventually decided to wear this black box clutch to add some sparkle, if you can wear sparkle at one point in the year its New Years. I got this beauty at the Next sale which I seem to go to every year after saying "oh I probably wont buy anything" and step out with some serious damage done to my credit card. As I wont be outside long I just wore my leather jacket to add a different texture and add more of a coveted edgy vibe to the look as I don't want to go too Carrie Bradshaw.

 

I hope everyone has a great NYE and has a good start to the very futuristic sounding 2015! feel free to leave a comment below about your plans for new years.

 

Emily x

 

 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit

I know that this isn't exactly a festive post but I decided it was time to share this little beauty with everyone. Recently Sephora lured me in with a good old fashioned discount code causing me to splurge on this baby. I have heard so many people rave about this all in one product I just had to see what all the hype was about.I heard that Sephora now ship to the UK a while back and decided that now was the time to test their site.

 Everyone as been after a more contoured look ever since the Kardashians appeared, showing us their beautifully chiselled cheek bones and in that moment the world jumped on the contour bandwagon. Being a person of the dreaded pale skin I was always fearful of trying to contour. I used to use (and still do use) The Body Shops Honey Bronzer which is absolutely perfect for us pasty people but thought it was time to switch it up a bit.

This kit is from the makers of the ultimate holy grail product, the Anastasia Brow Wiz so it had to be worth a try. The kit comes with three highlighting shades, one neutral colour, a banana correcting shade and a more shimmery highlight. The banana shade is perfect for sweeping in a triangle formation over the under eyes, making the area brighter and faking a perfect nights sleep. The shimmery shade is great for putting on the cheekbones and higher sections of your face to highlight the areas of your face that you want to be seen. The neutral shade is great for helping to blend out mistakes or just correct and highlight an area.

The contour section comes in 3 different shades. I use the middle shade mixed with a little bit of  it the second darkest one to get the correct balance for my skin. Don't be afraid to mix with these as they are super bendable and perfect for mixing together in order to find your shade.

Overall I think this is a perfect investment product and it saves the fuss of having to carry multiple palettes instead of just one. If you want to buy this palette last time I checked they had them on Cult Beauty and Sephora's websites but they are going in and out of stock a lot.

If you liked this post or want to have your say about this pallet feel free to leave a comment below.

Emily x

Camel

Coat - Missguided

Shirt - Zara

Jeans - Topshop

Scarf - Primark

Boots - Boohoo

Hat - Urban Outfitters

Bag - Kate Spade New York

 

Sorry that I've been M.I.A from the blog recently but I've had exams on and my body decided that it was going to get really ill all at the same time. Never fear as I have made my return. A little while ago I bought this camel coloured beauty from misguided as the camel trend was definitely something that I really wanted to be a part of. It was time I got a winter coat for this year and this one definitely does the job. It has really deep pockets and a boyish/box shape which means that its really flattering and keeps in warmth. I went to a gig on Wednesday to try it out as in my opinion going to a gig is the ultimate test to whether an item is warm or not and this baby really did keep me as warm as possible.

I decided to pair the camel with mostly monochromatic pieces to make the camel colour stand out by wearing a pair of black jeans and a white shirt. I then  wore my favourite hat in my collection from Urban Outfitters and my red tartan scarf that I bought last year.I really like this outfit as its warm, practical yet on trend and perfect for the weather we are having.

If you liked this post or have any suggestions feel free to comment down below.

Emily x

Annie At Tiffany's

Hello again... its been a while hasn't it? Well its currently exam season for me which unfortunately results in a lack of posts. I've basically been drowning in practice papers and general revision and it hasn't been fun. On the Brightside my last exam is next Friday and that's it until the new year so I can make my return to the blogosphere. So lets get down to business.

England has became the arctic in the last couple of days and on this day I made the mistake of only wearing a leather jacket and yes I did really regret it. But I assure you the coats are coming back out of my wardrobe very soon as I'm freezing most of the time. I've wanted to jump on the turtleneck jumper bandwagon as soon as autumn was in sight and when I saw this little number on the Zara website I had to snatch it up.

As I've been gravitating towards a more androgynous and tailored look recently I decided to pair it with these cigarette trousers from Topshop which were an absolute bargain. I think that the reason behind this sudden obsession is down to re-watching breakfast at Tiffany's and a film featuring the queen of androgyny  and one of my favourite ever characters, Annie Hall. As I thought this outfit was a little bit dreary I decided to add a touch of colour by pairing it with a red lip and a beautiful piece of costume jewellery from Zara (and yes it does make me feel a tad Audrey Hepburn especially with the hat). I also wore my favourite thing I own, my floppy hat from Urban Outfitters that I fell in love with before a gig in Birmingham.

As this is England after all I wore my comfy and trusty black boots from New Look which I bought last year and have not left my feet. After seeing them in store last week I've deemed it acceptable to wear them again this year. My purse is definitely thanking me for it.

All of these pieces have become wardrobe staples for me. Let me know in the comments what your wardrobe staples are for this time of year.

Emily x

Shake Shack Covent Garden

Earlier this week me and some friends took a trip into London to basically have a look round and procrastinate as usual. After drowining in the crowds at Oxford Circus we decided to have lunch in the slightly less busy Covent Garden. I love this area as it has the perfect balance of the hustle and bustle of the large London shopping areas but with a relaxed feeling. it also has lots of independent stores amongst some larger name brands (which I find quite refreshing). We then spotted Shake Shack. I've heard the Americans and London bloggers mention this gem a number of times and decided to check out the menu. To my surprise the menu had a number of different options at a great price point. I opted for the Shack Burger as it seemed like the perfect but simple burger. Which it was. I really liked the fact that the bun was more like a brioche bun which is something you don't see that often. I also ordered cheesy chips. this was for me the highlight of the meal. If im honest the chips on there own would have been nice but nothing special but with the cheese as well! It was pure heaven.

 

Another noteworthy mention is that Covent Garden has their Christmas lights and decorations up This made me think that its a bit too early to have decorations up already until I realised.....its Christmas next month. Did I hear you correctly I hear you cry? Yes CHRISTMAS IS NEXT MONTH!!! Back to the point I would definitely recommend trying Shake Shack as it is something we don't really have in the UK and despite its mixed reviews I really liked it and it was great value for money.

 

Emily x

 

If you have any requests for a post or have/want to try Shake Shack let me know what you think in the comments.