an (odds and ends) week in photos

1. Threw myself back into the days of MySpace with a mirror snapshot for the purposes of showing off my hair which looked nicely tousled when I got up on Monday morning to meet Alana for a coffee date ;)

2. The first of many chocolate bars this week! I've had a huge craving for anything sweet this week and er, I totally realise this week's Frugal Feb has gone out of the window, but chocolate was definitely an essential to get through an incredibly boring Fashion and Cultural Influences leccy on a grim Tuesday afternoon.

3. Wearing my new Primark loafers in! This was paired with my outfit on Tuesday.

4. On my stroll through town to get home via our Lush store! I love little accents like these in Southampton, parts of the City can be really cute and quaint. FYI, I ended up buying a Magic Mushroom bubble bar and a Space Girl bath ballistic (my favourite) for the weekend.

5. An unhealthy lunch on Tuesday afternoon. Promptly followed by that Twirl bar above. I managed to make this while on the phone to my little sister - gal's got skillz(!) ;)

6. This week saw the return of my awful sleeping pattern, accompanied by The Sims 3. I stayed up until 4.30am, for a 9am start on one occasion, which was horrendous!

7. Hated weather like this - blah!

8. Finished a large bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk within about 4 hours on Thursday. Promptly passed out that evening for no apparent reason, although I'm feeling much better now.

9. Hopped on a train to visit the family for my pre-birthday weekend. HAI BAG O' CREME EGGS!

10. Extravagently priced train tickets, my railcard, slowly swelling thumb (I slammed it in a door by accident about two hours after waking up from fainting - F M L). Nails are Barry M Bright Pink and inspired by my five-year-old self.

11. Been wearing this bad boy all weekend! This was one of my presents for last year's birthday (:

12. My Pollo Pancetta pizza at Pizza Express on Saturday afternoon! Such a yummy birthday lunch, I'm so fussy with pizzas usually, but this was possibly the nicest one I've even tasted!

13. Shared a tub of limited edition Haagen Dazs Choc Choc Chip ice-cream with my little sister on Saturday night, while watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Perfect night in (:

14. My sister's current obsession. As IF they have their own book out now!

Shop Dixi Playsuit Giveaway (: - [CLOSED]

As you may have noticed, this month saw my little blog reach over 1000 readers/subscribers/followers, which is so hard to believe. By way of saying thank you to you all, I was recently contacted by Shop Dixi to run a giveaway, which I'm so excited about. Dixi have the loveliest selection of current and vintage trends: I personally am dying to get my hands on these lace up wedge boots, and the Maile peacock one shouldered dress!

To win this adorable Bessie Floral Playsuit (in UK Size 10, apologies for the limited sizing!), all you have to do is:

- Be a follower of Daisybutter, either via Google Friend Connect/Blogger, or Bloglovin'.
- Visit Shop Dixi and leave a comment with your favourite Dixi item.
- Please also leave a name and email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner.
- For an extra entry, follow @SHOPDIXI and @winyeemichelle, and Tweet: "i want to win @winyemichelle and @SHOPDIXI's playsuit giveaway at http://bit.ly/i1zT07!" and leave a seperate comment please!

There will be one winner of the Bessie Floral Playsuit, and this giveaway will close on Monday 7th March 2011 at 10am (GMT). The giveaway is open internationally, so no-one will be missed out this time! The winner will be selected via Random.org, and I will announce the winner shortly after closing via my blog and email.

If you simply can't wait and want to get your hands on Dixi's pieces now, Dixi have also kindly offered my readers a 10% discount off every order over £15 on their shop. The code is valid until Monday 7th March 2011 again, just use my code at checkout which is DAISYDIXI02110.

Good luck and happy browsing/shopping! ♥

walls of insincerity

Afternoon lovely ladies! Today is my Mum's only afternoon off work for the weekend, so we're popping out very shortly for my birthday meal, hopefully at Pizza Express, although no doubt I shall keep you updated on Twitter. It feels like I haven't eaten out with my family in forever, and meals out are probably our favourite thing to do because we always have the best dinner conversations! We always go for a meal when a birthday comes around too, regardless of if we also throw a party or other celebration. What are your family favourites and traditions?

(Floral zip front corset-esque top, Topshop circa 2009!;

Full skirt with belt, Zara;

Owl ring, H&M;
Golden Snitch necklace, Wallpaper Rose.)

I actually planned this outfit and had it in my head a week or two ago, but realised that the top was still here at home, while I was in Southampton with a much more drab selection of clothes. I couldn't decide what to wear today but then spotted this hung up in my wardrobe and knew just what to pair it with! The top is actually more of a floaty top; it cinches at the waist and flares out over your hips, but I've tucked it in my skirt for a 50's inspired look and fit. I also think this top perfectly suits my bralet wishes; I currently can't buy anything new, but this looks about the same?! Also as a little sidenote, these photos really don't capture the outfit very well, it looks so much nicer in real life!

I'm currently still dithering about the bare-legged business - the outfit will look quite prim and proper if I put my sheer black tights on, yet the weather is far too, for want of a better word, crap to go without! Might raid the mother's tights drawer for some tan tights! I'd also been toying with the idea of snapping today's outfit photo outside in my garden, seeing as the weather had been relatively nice all week, but alas, I awoke to the pretty sound of rain, and the garden just looks pretty soggy.

Just wanted to say a huge thanks for being such amazing readers and caring people. I'm popping the the doctors at some point while I'm home to get myself properly looked at. I do think my health "issues", if you can call it that, are just Uni stress related, and I'm hoping a chilled, relaxing weekend in with my little sister will sort me out again, because I'm never rundown with even so much as a cold. Anyway, I should probably get a move on and fix my tights fiasco, Mum's due back with the new car any minute now, hope you all have lovely Saturdays and I'll be back tomorrow with a surprise, and my week in photos. ♥

dottie

Hello lovelies! I'm feeling pretty good today after a generic day of stress and 'blah' yesterday. I always seem to end up talking about the weather on here - British trait much?! - but it has been such a lovely, sunny day. I had to be out of the door for 8.30am this morning though, when it was still relatively cold and ended up wearing my proper coat out. So so hot! Anyway, my main point is that today has been nice, and I've finally got my birthday plans sorted, therefore life is good once more (: Also, apologies in advance for awful photos, you can blame dark mornings for that...

(Polka dot tunic/vest, New Look;
Camel shorts, Zara;
Jacket, Warehouse;
Cable knit tights, H&M;
Compass necklace, Handmade by me;
Rings, H&M and Topshop.)

I didn't wear this outfit today... I took these photos on an extremely overcast morning earlier this week, on, would you believe it, the Canon 500D that I hired out over the weekend. Hands up if you prefer the quality from Tuesday's photos! Coincidentally, Tuesday's photos were taken on my little Nikon aha. I don't understand why my camera is so temperamental! I wore this cute spotty top that I bought in New Look about a year ago. I love wearing clothes from months ago that I rediscover! Paired it with my camel shorts, because I really like camel and navy worn together at the moment, it looks really polished and classic, and is perfect for this transitional spring weather. My shorts actually look like paperbag waist shorts here, but they're actually just standard shorts that I've had to belt up. I've lost so much weight this year and dropped a dress size, which is seriously worrying, I might book a dietician appointment soon, as I honestly eat enough for about four people yet am losing so much weight.

I've managed to get so much work done recently. My workload is ridiculous at the moment, although it probably wouldn't be as bad if I er, stopped spending all my spare time routinely watching Big Fat Quiz of the Year clips (the 2010 edition, I'm aware it aired almost two months ago!) and playing The Sims 3. Big thanks to Emma for helping me out with one of my features this week too! Today I spent a good four or five hours working on a cultural theory presentation, with my friend, after my lecture - that's dedication peepz! But yeah, blogging has been slow this month because my workload is horrific, to put it quite simply!

I'm so excited for tomorrow to roll round. I'm going home (again!) for my pre-birthday weekend and to donate all of my Look Show goodie bag contents to my Mama! Can't believe it's almost been a week since my Fashion Week antics, this week has just flown by. I don't really know how I feel about turning 20 next week, it doesn't "feel" like my birthday to be honest, not sure why. I'm having the girls round on Monday evening for drinks and a night out at Bliss, which I'm quite excited about, I've become a stay-in kinda gal lately, so it'll be good to have a night out! I've also finally sorted out plans for my actual birthday, plans which involve a 9am lecture and a fancy meal out at Prezzo with my flatmates!

Hope you've all had a lovely Thursday, I'm sorry I didn't manage to post a Ways to Wear yesterday, but don't fret, I'll be keeping those coming despite Frugal February coming to an end, I will probably alternate them with my regular Wednesday Wants - sound good?!

walking down brick lane

I've got a confession to make: by way of an update with my attempts at a Frugal February, I completely fell off the wagon with my no-spending habits over the weekend. I think that overall, I did really well with saving my money and not spending anything unnecessary, but then my everyday flats fell apart, so I bought a new pair of shoes... I got my Fashion and Cultural Influences essay grade back, and received a First, so celebrated with Alana, a belgian chocolate brownie and frappucino at Starbucks... Bought some jewellery including a JWLRY ring from Lily's shop... To make myself feel a bit better - definitely feeling guilty after about three weeks of frugal habits - I won't be spending anything until March!

(Tunic, H&M;

Skirt, H&M;
15 denier Tights, Primark;
Silk Scarf, Vintage via Lush Cosmetics;
Necklaces, Handmade and UO;
Bracelets, from a set at Accessorize;
Nails, Barry M Bright Pink 279;
Loafers, Primark.)

Gosh, it feels like I haven't posted an outfit in absolutely ages. I've been slacking on them this month because of two main reasons: the first being that my camera has been crappalicious in recent weeks, and the second being that I've been a bit lazy on taking photos, instead devoting my time to Uni work. S'what I'm supposed to be focusing on really, eh? Anyway, this is a pretty standard outfit for me, when all else fails, I pop on a tunic and bodycon skirt! I added some long necklaces, a few bracelets and this beautiful scarf to break it up a bit, which in my opinion, really works, and brings the outfit to life. I picked the scarf up a few months ago now, it cost me about £4 from Lush, and the manager claims it is a locally sourced, vintage piece. Apparently Lush source their scarves at the same place as Topshop: crazy when you compare their retail prices!

My legs look so disproportionate to my body in this photo! These are the shoes I bought yesterday when on my mindless splurge (can you call it a splurge if it was only in Primark?!). I'd been lusting after a pair on the Urban Outfitters website for the longest time ever, and Ella always rocks the loafer look to utter perfection on her blog, so when I spotted these in Primark for just £10, I had to get them! Despite my Frugal February vow and temporary Wednesday Wants hiatus, I allowed myself to peruse the UO website last night and I want so much now, including this beyond beautiful dress. The price, however, not beyond beautiful at all.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on my post yesterday! It was quite unrelated to my blog in all honesty, but we were asked to post the review to our blogs "if possible", and I thought I may as well. The feedback and support was so lovely, I hope you all really enjoy the book if you were one of the ones who ordered it (or even downloaded it, modern technology noawdays...!) following my review. I think I will be keeping these types of reviews coming every so often, I may even join Gem's book club once this silly amount of Uni work is done with. Also, as a disclaimer, I'm sure you've noticed that my writing styles are quite different between Uni work and my blogging, just as it varies slightly in my freelance work: I totally think this is a required and useful tool in journalism, as I'll be likely to write for a variety of publications in the future! My blog is much more "me" and informal!

Well. I think that's quite enough from me today, I always manage to cram so much into my outfit posts, they are my chance to talk to you all a little bit more! I'd better face this mountain of assignment work so I can allow for valued Sims 3 time this evening, and prepare tomorrow's post for you ;)

PS. Lulz at my post title! Was taken from Pixie Lott - Nothing Compares, the only place I've walked to today is blimmin' Uni and back ;)

Book Review: "A Vintage Affair" by Isabel Wolff

I wrote this piece for my University portfolio. The brief stipulated a 400 word review of a film, album, play or book of choice, and we were also asked to publish it on either a blog or online media. We were also asked to source, via PR companies and contacts, hi-res images to go alongside the review feature! Let me know what you think!

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With the trend for vintage more widespread than ever before, Isabel Wolff delves deep into a story proving not all fairytale dresses bring fairytale endings.

Our ambitious heroine, Phoebe Swift, yearns to own a vintage dress shop, brimming with nostalgia and beautiful dresses. Expecting a nonchalant, fashion-led book to settle down to each evening, I was pleasantly surprised by a miscellany of moving issues, poles apart from my expectations.

Her dream is finally realised after years in the textile industry, when her boutique debuts in London, with floods of adoring customers bringing in their tales and anecdotes to every dress sold. But behind her happy exterior, Phoebe is all the while attempting to come to terms with the untimely death of her best friend. Obliging herself to independently source her items leads Phoebe to meet a mysterious Frenchwoman, Therese, who is willing to part with all of her stunning collection of dresses, bar one item: the little blue coat.

Wanting to know more about the garments she has acquired, Phoebe and Therese become firm friends, and piece by piece, tracing back to the 1940’s, Phoebe learns of the tragic means as to how Therese became the owner of the blue coat.

Taking you on both Phoebe and Therese’s journey to resolve their ghosts, with a wonderful balance of beautiful dresses, all the while throwing us back into the wartime days, Phoebe’s bittersweet story is delicately put-together, historically bound, ending on a wistful and definite note.

A nostalgic and emotive tale, Wolff reaches into the metaphorical meanings behind every purchase; not just thread and fabric, but a physical fragment of someone’s past. Cleverly balanced out with a light-hearted love triangle and mini anecdotes throughout, this novel is full of remarkable characters, each with a story to share, keeping my fingers and attention firmly on the book for hours on end.

Although my original expectations from the book were a far cry from the full story, the witty yet poignant, light-hearted yet profound tale behind young Therese and the little blue coat, all the more connecting Phoebe and the mysterious Frenchwoman is definitely one to remember. Embracing all that typically should not work, A Vintage Affair is a stand-out novel of today’s materialistic society.

Isabel Wolff is an accidental novelist, with a background in theatre and advertising, industries of varied spectrums. Following a successful columnist stint at The Daily Telegraph and wide acclaim for her series of novels, Wolff’s ninth novel is now in the works.

a (surreal) week in photos

1. Favourite issue of Stylist in a long time. If you get the chance read it online here because the ballet inspired editorials and features were really good!

2. Couldn't be bothered to shoot outfit photos, so you got a webcam photo earlier in the week (: It's been a bit of a blah/cba/I'm-too-tired week overall.

3. Discovered this Harry Potter dress up game on DeviantArt aha, I need to get a life....

4. Did some watercolouring in my styling notebook.

5 & 6. As part of my Interior and Food Styling assignment, I had to take some still-life photos of any objects we wanted, so I picked make-up, being the unique individual that I am(!) We've still not had our lecture or seminar for the assignment, so I don't know how "good" this is in relation to the theories.

7. Planning my outfit for London Fashion Week Day #1!

8. Jam and butter on (burnt) toast and a coffee on Friday morning before beginning my travels.

9. A plethora of emails all informing me of the same thing.

10 & 11. Went to the Look Show.

12. Tights of choice for LFW. (Primark, £2!)

13. Some of the goodies I came away with.

14. My press pass and Little Black Book.

15. Blah, this is what I woke up to on Saturday morning: a mountain of Uni work that I've been dismissing since my weekend home last week. Managed to get most of it done though! Today will consist of me preparing a presentation and doing copious amounts of Uni reading!

16. A generic, there's-rain-on-my-window-and-I-have-a-camera photo (: This was Saturday morning again.

17. Streaming the Jaeger show when I should have been writing a feature pitch.

18. Experimenting with Bokeh again on Saturday night. I really can't wait to have enough saved for my DSLR so I can get to grips with this all properly!

19. Of course, my week wouldn't be complete without one showing of Harry Potter!

20. Outfit of choice this weekend :D Outfit post anyone?!

21. Made udon noodles with pak choy, chicken, bacon and sweet chilli sauce!

London Fashion Week AW11 and the Look Show

Long time no speak (apparently)! I've just realised that I've not blogged much at all this week, I've just been preoccupied with other things this week, such as Uni work, sorting out various birthday outfits and of course, popping along to London Fashion Week. I don't want to keep making excuses for not posting as often as I'd like, but I just have such a big workload at the moment, including a horrific amount of written pieces, a presentation to prepare, practical tasks and a portfolio to put together! If I don't post on here, I will usually put an outfit photo and other bits and pieces on Tumblr.

So as you might already know, on Wednesday, my press pass for LFW was accepted at long last. I had applied quite a while ago, thinking of covering some shows for my Uni magazine and just to boost my portfolio. But on account of the fact I didn't think I'd even be going, I hadn't made plans to go to any shows or events, so I debated not going at all! By chance, and out of sheer luck, though, Lily messaged me on Wednesday night, asking if I'd like to go to the Look Show on Friday, along with Gem and Victoria, which of course I couldn't pass up! I'd already met Gem at the Eyeko event back in October, so it was lovely to see her again, and it was a all a bit surreal to meet Lily and Victoria "in real life" considering we talk so much online. Also guys, despite what general Twitter-Talk may claim, Lily does have both legs and feet, and both girls are so sweet!

I can't quite believe how quickly our day went, it felt like we'd only been there 5 minutes before we were rushing around like crazy people, toting (what felt like!) a hundred bags. As a little sidenote, I just wore my sheer blouse, Zara skirt, new patterned tights, Topshop flats, a vintage brooch and vintage necklace! We walked to Somerset House to pick up our passes first, had a bit of a nosey and papped a Marc Jacobs cab (!!) before embarking on the walk to Victoria House Basement for the Look Show.










All I can say on the Look Show is that it was like one big blogger/celeb lovefest to be quite honest! I know for a fact that Gem and I spent a large portion of our time there attempting to snap photos of celebrities in a subtle manner, and failing to on more than one occasion. Among the celebs we spotted were Marina Diamandis, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Keisha Buchanun (of Sugababes fame: she was so gorgeous!), Shayne Ward and Olivia Palermo, whom I have harboured a rediscovered adoration for. My favourite looks from the catwalk, which depicted looks for SS11 as opposed to AW11, were from New Look, Mango and River Island, which was surprising! I felt some of the styling was a bit samey, but on the whole, I've come away with so much inspiration for both my own wardrobe and my Uni work. Also met so many bloggers, which was a totally surreal experience to see people in real life! Was so nice to meet you Georgie, Kristabel, Kavita, Katie, Laura and Sara!

After the Look Show, some champagne, ridiculously good canapes, a quick go in the photobooth and more celeb-snapping, off we went back to the Press Lounge at Somerset House, for a chat with some fellow bloggers. Gem also had her make-up done at MAC for free, and nabbed some MAC goodies! Note to you all if you have a pass and plan on going to LFW within the next few days! Afterwards, Lily, Gem, Vic and I found a little Bistro restaurant by Covent Garden to nom some dinner, partake in the nerdiest blogging conversation known to man, blow off some steam and have a few laughs!

All in all, it was a really strange, busy and exciting experience in London. I'd never been to Fashion Week, only the commercial Fashion Weekend events that you pay to get into, and it was such a good day. I'm definitely going to up my game for next season; as a fashion journalism student soon entering third year, it'll be an unmissable event! Big thanks again to Lily for inviting me!