Splashing Out

After last Thursday's results debacle, I thought I'd splash out (well, as much as a student can afford to splash out!) on a new ring to cheer myself up. If you've been following the blog for a while, you'll know I've recently started a bit of a love affair with rings, so I'm over the moon to add this stunner to my collection:

£8.50, Topshop

It's a true statement piece this one: I love the feather detail and the almost-but-not-quite OTT crystal lining. The best thing about it is that it has an adjustable back, so it can be worn on any finger, without any danger of me losing it in one of my many absent minded moments! I've already worn it out once to jazz up a monochrome outfit and got quite a few compliments, so I'm feeling pretty smug at the moment.

Hope you've all had a good week so far; let me know what you're getting up to!

xxx

P.S. So sorry about the lack of post yesterday! I may have a very exciting opportunity in the pipeline, so I'll let you all know how that goes ... In the meantime, if you (like me) are missing the talents of my fellow blogger Millie, you can keep up with her Nepalese adventures here. (I'm dreading the day that she gets back and I have to explain to her how I managed not to gain any followers while she was gone, but lost one instead – eek!)

OOTD: Summer Utility

Went out with a couple of friends yesterday to see Step Up 3 (surprisingly deep for a dance movie, I was highly confused, but I'd recommend it) and wore this. Erm, the skirt is not actually as short as it looks:

Top: free, ELLE Magazine
Skirt: £4, Primark
Belt: £10, H&M
Socks: £8, Topshop
Brogues: £20, New Look
Earrings: £3.99, H&M
Ring: £3.99, H&M
Hair slide: £1.50, The Clothes Show
Bag: $37 = about £20, Urban Outfitters

I bought this skirt a couple of years ago to wear to sixth form – we used to have a dress code of smart office-style clothes, and the buttons on the front gave it a lovely smart feel. But yesterday I got so bored of them and took them all off, which means I can belt it and it now feels like a whole new skirt! Plus I have six buttons which I can use to update an old cardigan. Win all round, methinks.

  

The bag was a definite splash-out for me, but it's easily my favourite bag! The design is unbelievably cute and it's exactly the perfect size to fit my phone, purse, iPod and house key inside. I didn't think to take a photo, but the inside is lined with a gorgeous floral pattern and has a tiny pocket too!

Love Sanchia xxx

OOTD: Knitwear In Summer?!

Took a quick trip down to John Lewis today with the parents, wearing this:

Stupid poses and no make-up! That's just how I roll ... ;)

Top: £9.90, Mango
Skirt: £15, Dorothy Perkins
Belt: $19 = about £11, New York
Shoes: €15 = about £10, Barcelona
Hair slide & ring: £1.50 each, The Clothes Show


Knitwear in summer may seem a bit excessive, but I found this grey jumper in the summer sales and it is so light! Perfect for layering – finding all these great new season buys makes me so impatient for Autumn ... sigh.

I haven't worn these espadrilles for a while, but for the last few summers they have been my absolute favourite shoes. I picked them up on a family holiday to Barcelona (one of the most amazing cities in the world, if you love fashion or you just love life, then you need to go!) – they were handmade, and some of the stitching is a little loose because I've worn them into the ground. When they finally give up the ghost, I'm going to be on a plane or train straight back to get a new pair; they're just too versatile to lose!

I haven't had a haircut in an absolute age (next appointment is August 18th: you'll be the first to know what I think!) and I just can't be bothered to deal with it in the summer, so it's either pulled back with a big hair grip or in a ponytail usually. But today I found the September 2009 issue of ELLE which was full of big, messy plaits, so I thought I'd have a go ...

Let me know if you think it works!

Love Sanchia xxx

Ring The Changes.

I've been paying a lot more attention to my hands lately, as weird as that sounds! But since July, I've stopped playing piano and guitar regularly, which meant two things: firstly, I actually have fingernails now, and secondly, I've started wearing rings a lot more.

I say 'a lot', but actually my collection is pretty pathetic! I'm trying to get mine from sales and low-price shops as much as possible though; I don't want it to become an expensive habit like my earring collection. The first ring I ever bought was a beautiful £8 snake design from Topshop, which wrapped around half my finger, but it broke after I'd worn it about twice and I've learned my lesson!

 

From top to bottom: £1.80, ASOS (see this post for more); £1.50, The Clothes Show; £2, Dorothy Perkins; 

£3, Topshop; £4, Accessorize; £2, The Clothes Show; £2, The Clothes Show.

 

£4, Accessorize. Millie spotted the pendant version at the Liverpool Street Station sale and I fell in love with the ring!

£2, Dorothy Perkins. I picked this up in the sale to wear to my Leavers' Ball. 

My newest addition is this H&M ring:

 

They have a matching pendant too (only £2.99, unbelievably cheap!) but I don't want to fuel another jewellery collection just yet! I got comments from the changing room assistant, the girl at the till, and even the woman behind me in the queue, all saying how cute they thought it was – not that I needed much persuasion at this point since it was a mere £3.99. I've seen a lot of owl jewellery on the high street recently, mostly from Miss Selfridge, Topshop and Urban Outfitters, but nothing as low-priced as this for such a statement piece.

I just can't resist a good bargain!

Love Sanchia xxx

My Favourite Four-Letter Word

by Sanchia


I didn't have to think about it for very long: my favourite four-letter word has to be "SALE" (especially when it's in big, red capitals) closely followed by "ASOS"! Here are my spoils from the current ASOS online sale.

 

I snapped up this ring for £1.80 (I know, it felt like theft!) a few days ago:

The first one they sent to me broke in the package, so they replaced it with a new one the next day – and best of all, I now have a "free" ring and brooch (the broken-off top bit with a safety pin on the back)! Total win. :D

Secondly, I found this beautiful purse for just £10.80, after my 10% discount:

 

I'd seen it a few weeks ago but didn't have the money to get it before my holiday, and I found myself daydreaming about it more than once! (I know, I worry about myself too sometimes.) ;) It's blue and tan leather with a gorgeous (and very on-trend if I do say so myself) tassle, and enough space for my various cards, receipts, other assorted junk, etc. etc.

That's all for now; I've decided I'm going to give my debit card a break and put together a few trend edits for the next few days instead of shopping!

See you beautiful people soon ...

Love Sanchia (@wakeorsleep) xxx