A pause in the proceedings

Life is crazy at the moment. And as much as I hate to admit it, it's been affecting things over here on Paige of Fashion. Thanks to school, wanting to spend time with my loved ones and the general insanity that is the festive period, I simply haven't had the time to put as much thought into my blogging. As a frustrating consequence, my posts have been sporadic and somewhat rare. My usual habit of posting every other day has utterly disintegrated!

I'm not complaining in the slightest. As much as I would love to be able to keep Paige of Fashion in a state of constant renewal, I've chosen to put other things in front of writing blog posts on my list of priorities. I guess this is a taste of what growing up feels like! So, over the rest of the Christmas period I've chosen to take a short break from blogging. I'm looking forward to spending time with all of the people I love and not feeling pressured into pulling together a post in between that. I feel as though as soon as you start writing because you need to and not because you want to, the whole essence of blogging is lost.

Consider this only to be a pause though. I will be back. I promise. At some point early in the new year I hope to get into the swing of blogging once more and start my schedule afresh. I have no doubt that my temporary absence will revitalise my ability to post more frequently and to a better standard.

I hope you have absolutely wonderful Christmases and I'm excited to speak to you all again in 2015!

Bethany Paige X

Lush's shoot for the stars review

When I do baths, I do them right. I'm talking a complete relaxation routine. I'm talking candles, books and a plethora of scented liquids. I'm talking all of the Lush products that I can possibly afford to pour/drop/crumble into my bath. When it comes to winter though, my baths step it up a gear.

As soon as December hits I spend quite an extortionate amount of money on Lush products. I'm just obsessed with their Christmas range every year! Considering I spend approximately an hour and a half in the bath at a time (no joke) I don't consider it a waste of money. So while I was present shopping on Black Friday, the glorious smell drew me in and I couldn't resist picking up a bath bomb. My logic was that you have to relax after the serious cardio that is Christmas shopping. It also gave me the opportunity to write my first review of this kind. See, two birds, one stone!

 

The bath bomb I went for this time was Shoot for the stars. I was drawn in by two factors. Firstly, that scent. It has the same smell as the "honey I washed the kids" soap - a gorgeous blend of caramel and sweet orange. Secondly, it claimed it would make my bath water look like a night sky! How could I resist that? 

At first, I'll be honest, it didn't make my bath water look anything like a midnight sky. It kind of just turned into a swirl of pastel colours. But hey, that's good too. Once it settled down and was finished fizzing (I'd say it took about five minuted) it did leave me with a dark blue/purple shimmering bath of wonderfulness though, which made me sublimely happy.

I can't say that shoot for the stars is particularly moisturising or bodes any such qualities, but it did leave my skin shimmery. I was like a walking diamond! I left the bath feeling shiny and smelling beautiful, which is all  I can ask for in a Lush product really.

Bethany Paige X

All I want for Christmas is...

Today I was suddenly hit by a wave of Christmas excitement. In less than a month I will be well and truly submerged in the festive spirit, no doubt eating more than my fair share of mince pies and dancing around in fluffy socks to Mariah Carey. That's how it usually goes at least.

For me, my favourite part of Christmas is giving people their presents. I plan them months in advance which means I have plenty of time to build up excitement to see their faces when they open them! There's no denying that I'm pretty fond of receiving presents too though. We'd be lying if we said we didn't get a little bit like a child every year! And I thought it was that time of year again when a little Christmas wishlist is in order. It's the fashion blogger's equivalent to a letter to Santa.

Naked 3 Palette by Urban Decay // Too Faced Melted Nude // 5th Avenue by Elizabeth Arden // Yankee candle in Merry Marshmallow //  Snakeskine notepad from Paperchase // Holly Golightly lush bubble bar // He Wasn't Man Enough Boots by La Moda // Mi Vida Loca backpack in White by La Moda // "It was all fucking awesome" photo album // Quay cat eye sunglasses // Underwire white bra by Topshop 

What are you hoping to find under the tree this year?

Bethany Paige X

OOTD: Black and navy revolution

Who created the fashion rulebook that every woman seems to live by? The leather bound book that contains such rules as "never do double denim" (please see Balmain SS14) and "socks and sandals will never be trendy" (please see any vaguely fashion orientated Tumblr page and search for Nike Sliders). My point is, there's always an exception to fashion rules and usually those exceptions are a hell of a lot more kick ass than the conventional looks we see on a daily basis. Sometimes it's just good to put a metaphorical middle finger up to the book and do what you want. 

One rule I never understood was the fact that you're not "allowed" to wear navy and black together. I'm not sure I comprehend where that idea spawned from. And frankly, pairing the shades has been one of my favourite fashion moves recently. In particular I've been obsessed with wearing my black oversized t-shirt dress with navy accessories. I know, shocking.  

T-Shirt dress, button down, bag, trainers, 

leather jacket - All Primark // Gold ring - Newlook 

Bethany Paige x

The segregation of sunglasses

A couple of days ago, as is often the case in the colder months, I was mourning the loss of my summer wardrobe. I miss shorts, crop tops and open shoes terribly. I feel like I've gone through a break up and have rebounded into a relationship that's left me completely unsatisfied! Yes, winter does bring the opportunity for layering (I'm sure you've heard every other fashion blogger shouting about it already) but nothing will beat the carefree approach I can take to dressing in mid August. Most winter mornings I spend more time contemplating whether a scarf is absolutely necessary than I do actually getting dressed. And that's precious time that could be spent still asleep.

So I continue to feebly attempt to bring some kind of sunshine into my daily dressing. Starting with sunglasses. I am taking a stand against the frankly ridiculous notion that sunglasses should be utterly neglected in autumn and winter. The sun doesn't disappear in September! And some of us have eyes that enjoy watering as soon as the clouds clear leaving us a mascara covered mess. So despite the strange looks I will undoubtedly get, I'll no longer be segregating sunnies into my summer wardrobe. 

I may just start my rebellion with a pair of these beauties... 

Quay Athena Sunglasses - £12 ASOS // Quay Invador cat-eye sunglasses - £27 ASOS // Double bridge cat eye sunglasses - £9 ASOS // Posh in Gold - $25 roseandono.com // Willow cut off cat-eye sunglasses - £18 Topshop // 

Bethany Paige X

Thigh highs

I never was a fan of thigh high boots. In fact, I never was a fan of anything longer than an ankle boot for that matter. As far as I was concerned, they were just a tad trashy. Even when pop angel Ariana Grande wore them I wasn't convinced and couldn't help but feel they were a bit much.

Then a few days ago my whole perspective on the thigh high boots matter shifted. And I have La Moda UK (as usual) to blame/thank! These black, suede effect boots have me drooling. Maybe it's the fact that they're not overly high in the heel department, or maybe all of my fashion morals have disintegrated, but I'm officially obsessed with them. It's got to the point where I plan outfits to wear with "my boots" and pretend that they are the most versatile form of footwear known to womankind.

At the moment I'm lusting over the idea of pairing them with a simple shirt dress, a clutch and gold accessories.

Boutique silk shirt dress - £85 Topshop // Leather clutch - £45 Topshop  // Mesh and snake chain necklace - £16.50 Topshop // Sovereign ring set - £12.50 Topshop // Ghetto Superstar suede boots - £34.99 - La Moda UK

Where do you stand on the thigh high boot debate?
Bethany Paige X

October favourites

I know you are probably still in a state of shock after seeing this post on your Bloglovin/twitter feed. You probably thought I was gone for ever. But alas, I am back and blogging! Apologies for my recent disappearance from basically all forms of social media over the past few weeks; I’ve not had access to any solid internet sources and I’ve been out and about a lot. Getting my twitter fix has only been possible with free bus wifi. Thank you Ariva.

Anyway, now that I am settling back into my little corner of the internet I thought I’d share with you all the things I was loving last month. October signalled the point of no return towards freezing temperatures but as much as I despise the change in weather, it was a beautiful month spent with beautiful people.

During summertime I’m lucky enough to have skin that basically maintains its own health, but as soon as temperatures drop it’s another story altogether. So, around this time of year I invest in skincare products to get me through colder periods. The first of these that I’ve been loving is the LUSH Mask of Magniminty face and body mask. Aside from smelling phenomenal, it’s worked wonders on my face, back and arms to rejuvenate my skin thanks to it containing peppermint. To be honest, I use it every time I have a bath these days because I am simply obsessed.

 

Another LUSH product that October saw me lusting over is the Mint Jullip Lip Scrub. I’ll be honest, it’s not essential. It’s easy enough to whip up your own version of this with Vaseline and caster sugar. But it is just gorgeous. It tastes like mint chocolate (who doesn’t want that?) and leaves my lips smooth ready to apply lipsticks or just after I’ve been out on a cold windy day.

I have real problems with moisturises. I’ve spent more than I care to admit on attempting to find one that doesn’t leave me greasy and breaking out in spots after a couple of days use. I certainly did not expect to find my saviour in the form of this unbelievably cheap Boots Essentials moisturising cream. I’ve used it every day, morning and night, since buying it at the beginning of October and can’t even imagine living without it now. Cucumber is one of my favourite scents which is a bonus and it's the perfect consistency.

Final skincare favourite, I promise. And I know it seems like an odd one. For those of you that don’t know me, I always carry around baby wipes in my bag. Not makeup wipes. Baby wipes. I use them to wipe my hands clean and take off makeup on the go as they’re gentle on my skin and generally nicer to use than other wipes. I saw these Huggies natural care ones were on offer so I picked them up and have fallen in love with them. They have a fresh smell and since they’re natural, the wipes have a thicker and more cotton wool like texture to them. They contain aloe and vitamin E too which I figure can’t be a bad thing for your skin. Plus, they prevent the causes of nappy rash naturally! What’s not to love?

As the weather gets colder my obsession with scented candles steps up a gear. I’ve had this Gaia Creations “monkey farts” (yes, the name is part of the reason I love it so) candle for a few months now but have recently fallen into an even deeper love for it. It has a fruity scent which means I can pretend I’m back in summertime and it’s just so comforting to have it burning whilst I’m in bed reading.

Talking of reading – this book! The Lover’s Dictionary is easily in my top five favourite books of all time and I re-read it last month so had to include it here. It’s a love story but written in the form of definitions which is an absolutely genius idea. It’s a really quick read and for me is unforgettable.

I have a total obsession with pretty underwear but don’t exactly have a Victoria Secret budget since one bra would probably cost me the equivalent of a full month’s wages. So I have to settle for the less extravagant despite my desires. However, I was in Primark and came across this absolutely stunning set for £4! Four British Pounds. I am genuinely impressed. It’s a gorgeous white mesh with floral applique and bow detail that I could not resist. The only problem is that since they are sold as sets, the bottoms are slightly too small. Being not so blessed in the chest department, the knickers are a size 6-8 in order to correspond with the bra size, but my bum is unfortunately not so willing to cooperate!

Primark certainly have been doing well recently. This jacket merges two of my favourite things - grey and feaux leather. It only cost £25 and is really good quality considering. Paired with my grey tennis skirt as seen here or just with high waisted black jeans it's perfect for keeping warm without going all out with a coat. I absolutely adore the quilt and gold detailing. 

My final favourite of October is Costa. I’ve spent essentially the whole of my half term with my friend Jodie in Costa sipping away on Chai Lattes and taking advantage of their free wifi for a few minutes! It’s basically become another home for me. If you haven’t tried their emmental and mushroom toastie yet, you are seriously missing out and must go there immediately.

I hope you all had a lovely October too (even though we’re quite a way into November now) and I can’t wait to ramble again to you all very soon now that I’m back on the blogging scene!

Bethany Paige X

The dressing gown coat

Most mornings I would happily leave my front door still in pyjamas with my duvet hugged around my shoulders. At 7am and heading to school, I'm tired, cold and feel as though I could probably ignore the bemused commuters around me on the 141 bus. There's always that little part of my brain that stops me doing so of course. It's probably my subconscious saving future me from the sheer embarrassment I would face upon being awake enough to realise I willingly left the house sporting flannel trousers and a duvet for a cape. 

Still, the opportunity to be as comfortable (and warm) as if wearing pyjamas whilst retaining fashion kudos is not one I will ever pass up. And that my friends, is why I am so in love with the current trend for oversized, slouchy, wool coats that are belted at the waist. The dressing gown coat, as I call it. 

In particular, I've been getting pretty strong feelings towards this camel (since when have I liked camel, by the way?) wool coat by Mango. Suddenly my wardrobe feels incomplete without it. 

£139.99 at ASOS

Bethany Paige X

Alexander Wang X H&M

H&M love a good collaboration collection, don't they? From Madonna to Minogue and Cavalli to Comme des Garcons, the Swedish fashion giant simply can't resist the chance to work some fashion magic with a stylish celeb or a design house. Of all the collections though, Alexander Wang for H&M has to be the one that I've been most excited for. And that's saying a lot considering they worked with Isabel Marant last year! 

Wang just has a way with simplicity. He's all about minimal colour pallets, beautiful cuts and a high fashion sporty aesthetic. Even when I wouldn't necessarily wear his designs, I certainly don't mind spending hours staring at their beauty! The same can be said for Wang's H&M collaboration. Obviously there's plenty of pieces I would adore to have hanging in my wardrobe (that cropped jumper and all of the bralets), but some of it is a bit more of a novelty that I take pleasure in just looking at. To be honest I'm just not sure I could pull off boxing gloves at the supermarket! 

Bethany Paige X

Marbled

I vividly remember my Mum buying a marble work surface for our kitchen when I was about 8. Mainly I recall it so well because I couldn't understand her utter exaltation about it being installed. To me it was just a work surface. And I didn't get why anyone would spend money on one when they could buy sweets or Hannah Montana's new CD instead. Nonetheless, she adored it. Sometimes I think she looked at it more lovingly than she looked at my brother and I!

Aside from that kitchen work surface (my Mum was devastated when we moved house six months later) marble has been rather inconsequential in my life. That is until I was spontaneously struck by just how beautiful marble prints are a few weeks ago. It only took me seeing a single shirt in a white and grey marble pattern to become utterly obsessed and looking up just where I can buy a whole wardrobe of the print. There's something gorgeously refined about it.

 BZR dress in Marble print - £85 ASOS // Marble iPhone case - £14 cafepress.co.uk // Marble Skirt - Zara originally and now found online // Peg Trousers in printed marble scuba - ASOS £35 // Chiffon vest - £14.99 H&M // Wood Wood Berdine shorts in marble - £29 ASOS // Warehouse marble effect sunglasses - £4.50 ASOS

And on that note, I'm happy to unveil my new, very marbled, blog theme!

Bethany Paige X

My mind at the moment: Number 2

(all images found on Tumblr)

My mind is somewhere else at the moment. It's all over the world in beautiful places. I'm inspired by the thought of travel and the thought of travelling with wonderful people. By quiet rebellion. By love in all its forms. By art that speaks without making noise and by spilling my heart onto journal pages in the early hours of the morning. By the inky night sky. By baggy t-shirts and messy hair. By minimalism inherently louder than opulence.

Bethany Paige X

The minimal Monki sweat

There's something extremely endearing about a simple sweat. I think it's all in the minimalism and the fact that a monochrome one seems to have the ability to make any outfit look effortlessly sleek. Recently I've been especially lusting over Monki's "Lexi Sweat". And by "lusting" I mean "absolutely obsessing". Ever since I first set eyes upon it on one of my internet rambles, I haven't been able to stop thinking about how perfect it would look in my wardrobe!

Obviously I adore the colour combination (how could you not?) but the transparent birchbark style detail is what makes this sweat so perfect.

Lexi Sweat - £20 Monki // Midi silk swing dress - £65 Topshop // 

Jessi black cleated sole platform - £36.99 

Public Desire // Vita white leather backpack - £44.99 La Moda // 

Multi row bar silver necklace - £14.50 Topshop // Flat front ring kit - £12.50 Topshop 

MOTO black Mom jeans - £40 Topshop // Coco Black platform sole shoe - £27.99 

La Moda // Pepper rucksack - £165 Grafea // Cami top - £6 Topshop // 

Nail varnish in Alpine Snow - £7 OPI

Sporty Mensy trousers - £90 Topshop // White slouch clutch - accessoryo.com £22 // 

Alexa white shoe - £28 La Moda // Cat eye glasses - £10 ASOS

I can almost guarantee that by the end of the evening this will have been ordered. I won't lie and say that I'm sorry. 

Bethany Paige X

OOTD: Triple Grey

It was inevitable the minute I saw this jacket that it would eventually find its way into my wardrobe. It's grey, leather and has gold details. Basically this jacket is everything I love in clothes condensed into one single item.

For its first outing this weekend (and the last time I think I'll be able to go bare legged this year) I thought I'd try something a little bit different - Triple grey. Now, we all know I have undying devotion to the colour but I've never worn it on my skirt, top and jacket all at once. To be honest though, if I had grey boots I would probably have worn them too! There's something kind of glorious about wearing essentially one shade all over.

Top - Primark // Skirt - Primark // Jacket - Primark // Boots - River Island 

// Ring - Newlook

I hope you all have an amazing week,
Bethany Paige X

In the navy

I think there are two underrated colours in the world of fashion. Firstly, grey (and we all know that grey is my absolute favourite colour). Secondly, Navy. 

The thing about navy is that it's been sanctioned to the realms of ill fitting skirt suits, when not found aboard ships, and has never fully made it back out again. The style stigma has unfortunately stuck. My recent obsession with minimal clothes though has allowed me to see past that. So now I can branch out and wear not only black, white and grey but navy too! That counts as colourful, right?

Heavy dress coat - £85 Topshop // Hybrid pleat pencil skirt - £90 Topshop // Boutique premium roll neck - £50 Topshop // Navy pinstripe bralet - £28 River Island // Navy linen zip front midi skirt - £20 River Island // 3/4 sleeve top - £30 River Island // Portland backpack - £295 Whistles // Clean funnel neck sweat - £55 Topshop // Nail Lacquer in Royal Navy - £12 Butter London

Happy Friday! 

Bethany Paige X

Dirty Hippie by Miley Cyrus

"To some people, it was just me gluing some things together, to me, it made me not a f*cking pop star dumbass. And that’s my goal in my life: to not die a pop pop dumb dumb," - The ever eloquent words of a certain Miss Cyrus regarding her recent designing début with Jeremy Scott at NYFW. 

Not quite content with causing controversy in the worlds of film, music and general celebrity stardom, Miley decided to take a crack at fashion designing too with her art instillation "Dirty Hippie". Whilst her sculptures also had their moment at New York Fashion week, it was her necklaces and hair pieces that had the spotlight, being paired with Jeremy Scott's SS15 collection. And if her aim was to cause controversy, she was undeniably successful. If it was to design pieces of gorgeous jewellery... well, her success is debatable. 

Frankly, it's ridiculous.

The mix of air fresheners, fake petals and pompoms is hardly vintage Chanel. Or modern day Chanel, for that matter. To be honest, it's not even Topshop. And as much as I believe in free expression, I don't like the fact that Miley got a free pass into the highly competitive world that is fashion design just because of her reputation. People work for years to get that kind of break. People work for years and most don't even make it within a mile of fashion week. Yet Miley Cyrus admits to spending just two months on her art and ends up getting dragged onto the catwalk by Jeremy Scott at the end of his show. It all just seems a little unjust. 

Image source

Still, I can't fault Miley's thought process behind it - 'I had a bunch of f*cing junk and sh*t, and so instead of letting it be junk and sh*t, I turned it into something that made me happy.'

I think that's the kind of positive idea we should all embrace! Although for me it will involve much less plastic... 

Bethany Paige X

Wishlist: My least favourite season

Autumn is a weird time of year. It's three months of that awkward in-between weather that causes clothing based conundrums for everyone involved. It officially marks the start of the period in time when us girls have to wake up and ask ourselves the same question - Is it a tights day? It's the start of coats that by mid-day will probably be hooked over an arm and not actually on and scarves that in the morning frost seem like the best idea going but end up making our bags bulge.

I'm not generally a pessimistic person but autumn is probably my least favourite fashion month. But hey, at least the dawn of a new season has given me the opportunity to lust over autumn pieces! Like that pink coat...

"Snuggle in coat" in pink - fashionprescription.org £40 // The Envy backpack - Grafea 

£180 // Faux gold septum ring - £10 La Moda UK // Riley grey ankle boot - £29.99 Public Desire // Flora Bra in Blanc - £26 ohsolovelyhandmade.bigcartel.com // My favourite designer t-shirt - £12 Boohoo //  White peg leg trousers - £40 Topshop // Scarf - £14.99 New Look 

Stay strong my loves, it's nearly the weekend! 

Bethany Paige X