Styling Up My Kitten!

I have been trying to do some style squares for my fellow instagrammers and came across a small ginger technical hitch.  At only 4 months, he is getting into everything!  I wanted to showcase my new purse from Next, so hopefully you can see past his ginger fur.





The purse caught my eye because of the animal print.  My old purse was looking a little worse for wear, but it had served me well the past couple of years.



I have transferred all my cards and loyalty vouchers and everything fits perfectly.  I also purchased a new shopping bag.  The UK introduced charges for plastic bags last October, so when I see a bag with a pretty pattern I tend to buy it to add to my collection.  This one was only £4 and the elephant print is adorable!

Last Sunday, I also took a trip over to Chester and visited the local Primark.  As you can see, I picked up a few items, including some new animal print shoes for only £3.50. 

I also stopped in the Body shop for a replacement Aloe Vera cleanser; I love the milky format of this one and it leaves my skin feeling really soft afterwards.

As I was preparing my photographs, Spartacus decided to have a furtle in my shoe collection - here he is getting in a muddle under the shoe rack!

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Please don't forget to check out my travel blog if you have time

www.blogspot.com/uktravelchicky

If you want to follow the antics of my troublesome kitten, he is also on Instagram

@omgitsakitten

Spring Is Coming

 Hi everyone,

As the evenings start to lighten up in the northern hemisphere, it has made me think about Spring.  This inevitably leads to thoughts about a spring wardrobe.  

I am loving the blush colourings that are being hinted at, so I put together a few items with this theme in mind.

Other things I have spotted :-

Stripes are still playing a big part this spring.

Did you buy and of the lace up pumps last summer?  You're going to get another Spring and Summer out of them.

Shoes with clumpy heels are also really big.

Denim comes in more variations, with some styles reverting back to flared and boot cuts, but other looks sticking resolutely with the skinnies.

Finally, waistbands on jeans at a comfortable level!!   (Just gave my age away there......)

Catch up with you in a couple of weeks!

New Model Army

Hi everyone - I actually like that band, but the less said about that the better ha ha.

Soooooo, this month I popped into Primark for a little mooch and came away with all these goodies shown here.  If you're following my Instagram @ukstylechicky you will have seen my lame attempts at modelling some of the items I have purchased.

The thing is, you all seem really keen on my modelling antics so I promise I will try and improve my poses for you.  I don't think I am going to go as far as getting a lawn mower, or standing in contemplation while pointing at something, but I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

I loved the length of this lace jacket, it is long enough to cover my ample derriere but not too long to swamp me.  It's going to look great with a number of my existing items, but it will probably end up with the usual jeans and white top combo that I seem to be favouring at the moment.

Please tell me what you think to my modelling antics and whether you'd like to see more.

I also wanted to point out that I have got over 600 likes for this picture on Instagram - I am so impressed as this has NEVER happened, so thanks everyone for that and here's to some more cool pictures throughout 2016!

Apologies for the sense of extreme smug gittiness there, but I feel I have really achieved something.

Until next time!

P.S.  Please feel free to follow my new travel blog   @uktravelchicky - you can also find me on Bloglovin' if you use it.

Reading Glasses Trauma & Sneaky Shopping

Many of you will have seen that I've been making a few sneaky purchases lately.  I can't resist my own personal stocking fillers at this time of the year.

There is the sparkly cat sweatshirt from H&M, a snip at only £14.99.

There are a few cheeky items from Primark last Monday - I was on a training course, so while I wasn't paying for my own train ticket it made sense to pop in on the way there.  What I didn't realise was that Primark must have opened at 8am or something, as I walked by Piccadilly Gardens at around 08.30 and saw the doors were open.  My course was only a ten minute walk away and didn't start until 09.30 so I had time to kill!

Now, I don't know if any of you are 'getting to a certain age', but once you've hit 40 everyone starts to remind you that your eyesight is going to turn to mush.  At the ripe old age of 44 I had to relent and get reading glasses.  I have a really posh pair for work, proper prescription with computer screen filters, which cost me a lot of money.  But I worry that I will leave them somewhere, so found that Primark do a great range of reading glasses and the prices vary from £1.50 to about £4, with most styles coming with their own case.

I have various pairs dotted around the house - I don't know if any of you do this, too, but there is nothing frustrating than trying to read cooking instructions in the kitchen then realising you have to walk halfway round your house to find the glasses in order to read them!

When I was in Italy earlier this year, the other thing I realised was that I had to remove my sunglasses and switch to reading glasses to look at maps, menus and wotnot.  None of the glasses I had brought with me had UV filters, so I still couldn't see because I was squinting.  Well fear not, Primark did a pair for £3 - they will be going in my case for the next holiday.

If anyone else has any funny eyesight stories to share, please feel free to comment - I'd love to hear if any of you are as daft as me!

In the meantime, for those celebrating Christmas, I hope your preparations are going well.

Catch you all soon.

If You Can't Find What You Need, Compromise

One thing I've found difficult to find this year has been a decent length of shorts.  Being in my forties means I'm not so keen on the current bum skimmers that are in the shops.  I also like to do a lot of sight seeing when I go away, so the balance of comfort over fashion must also be considered.

After having little or no joy in finding anything I liked, the only solution left was to make my own.  I headed over to Primark and picked up 4 pairs of jeggings, that were only £6.50 a pair.  That way, if I didn't quite get this right, I wasn't going to cry too much over the lost cash.

The first pair I attacked were white, I worked out where I needed to cut, then used these as a template for the remaining pairs.

Once cut, they were folded and tried on, to check the length was where I wanted them.

This process was then repeated on the navy, black and sandy beige jeggings.

The final step in the process was to fold the hems up and sew them in place.

I wonder if anyone else ever resorts to doing this as well?  They're far better than the nasty chino styles you get out there, too.  

I don't know about you, but when you get older, yes, comfort is good, but so is style.  There's a lot of stuff out there that's plain awful!

Shoes will be my next rant, I'm sure!!!!!!! Until next time.......

Primark Is An Addiction

How does Primark do it?  On Tuesday, I had a business date with my work colleagues in Manchester.  This is not my usual working location, so I find myself easily drawn in to the town centre, which is about 5 minutes from the office, past the tram station.  Firstly, I popped to Greggs for some lunch and ended up with a yummy slice of Spicy Chicken pizza.  Then, as Primark was just across the road, I just had to pop in through those automatic doors and take a quick peep.

If you go in through the side entrance on Mosley Street, you are met with beautiful swimwear - bikinis and kaftans in all colours, shapes and sizes.  It really puts you in a holiday mood, that's for sure!  The Manchester store has a Costa Coffee on the first floor, so as you head up the escalator there is this heady aroma of coffee and cake (mmmmmmmm)

This time I purchased some jeggings, jeans, a new top, a hair accessory and some bangles.  I love bangles and they're often featured in my style-ups.  The grand total of this haul was only £63! How do they do this?!?!

Have a lovely few days ahead and I look forward to sharing more stuff with you soon x