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