Today I was invited to take part in the VoucherCodes.co.uk Thrifty Summer Challenge – the perfect challenge for a canny Scots lass like me!  

The brief was to find a selection of cost effective and versatile buys for the temperamental British summer – the rule being that nothing could cost more than £40. To be honest I found it really easy as there’s so much great stuff on the high street. Here’s my selection…

The cute knit

I just love this little knitted jacket. The white lace detailing is super cute and it would be great for chucking on over a vest and jeans when the weather cools down (or the air con kicks in!).  

Knitted jacket £39, Miss Selfridge    

The white shirt

A summer classic, this one is sheer and has a lace back panel. It could be worn alone or layered up with a vest and blazer.

Sheer lace panel shirt £38, Topshop  

The flirty shorts

Shorts have been around for ages now, but are still going strong. This polka dot pair are perfect for summer – wear with bare legs on warmer days and over tights into autumn.

Polka dot shorts £20, New Look

The heeled sandals

Aren’t these cork-heeled platforms amazing? They would work with pretty much anything and could be worn with coloured tights to brighten up dull days.

Heeled sandals £39.99, Urban Outfitters

The day-to-night dress

I love leopard print and have a wardrobe filled with it – but one more item wouldn’t hurt!  This dress would be ideal with leggings and flats for daytime picnics, barbeques and festivals, and could be dressed up with heels and a little shrug for night.

Dress £40, Miss Selfridge

The pac-a-parka

An essential for British summertime! No further explanation needed!

Pac-a-parka £28, Topshop

As a thank you for taking part in the challenge, the nice folks at VoucherCodes.co.uk have offered to send me an item from my selection. The challenge now is how to decide which one?

 Help! Which one would you go for?

xx

PS Do remember to check VoucherCodes.co.uk for discounts and offers at Topshop, New Look and loads more high street stores before parting with your hard-earned cash!

My parents were on holiday when it was Father’s Day, so yesterday we had a belated day out to celebrate. We walked along Edinburgh’s Water of Leith from Roseburn to Stockbridge, ending up in The Antiquary for a pub lunch.

This was the first outing for my new Johann Earl lace panel dress (£24.99, reduced from £50 in the sale) – an unusual choice for me as I tend to stick to tunic or smock styles and this is a waisted dress. I really like it though. I teamed it with leggings and the ubiquitous black ballet pumps that I seem to be wearing in every outfit post – must try to break out of that style rut!

Dad and me:

Artist Antony Gormley has created a series of 6 life-sized figures positioned around Edinburgh and we saw 3 of them along the way.  (This is the first and last time you’ll see me posing on this blog with a naked man…probably…never say never I guess!):  

We heart Leith, oh yes we do: 

Edinburgh’s Gallery of Modern Art has a message for us:

That’s alright then!

xx

Dress: Johann Earl at Urban Outfitters

On fashion awards night I asked  Amy to pose for a photo and got a horrified ‘Oh no, no no no, I like to be behind the camera.”

However, I did manage to sneak a shot while she wasn’t looking and feel it’s my duty to share it with you because she was wearing the most envy-inducing dress.

It’s a cream and black silk wrap dress – perfect length, perfect print, perfect pleated skirt – and what  makes me green with envy is that she picked it up in a charity shop in Madrid for only a few quid! (Needless to say, when I was in Madrid in April I scoured the place looking for something similar but ended up coming back with a jacket I could have bought in Zara on Buchanan Street. #FAIL!).  

I shouldn’t be doing this, but Amy’s gone to Glasto for the weekend so it’ll be at least Tuesday before I get a lawyer’s letter asking me to remove this image!

And what did I wear? Well, after endless deliberating over a See by Chloe dress that was reduced from £365 to £105 in Harvey Nicks (in the end it failed the ‘would-I-buy-it-if-it-was-£29.99-in-H&M’ test), I bought a white lace smock dress that has a cute peter pan collar:

If the photo of Amy gets taken down next week, you’ll know I’m in trouble!

Happy weekend.

 xx

Amy wears: vintage silk dress from Madrid charity shop (*jealous*)

I wear: white lace dress from Topshop     

Through this blog I was invited to the 5th annual Scottish Fashion Awards as a member of the media. Cue much excitement – and a fair bit of anxiety when I got an email asking for the names of my ‘crew’ (um…that’ll be me and the wee purple camera that’s one step up from a disposable!).

Luckily the lovely Amy agreed to come along to help out with the photography. Here are the pics from the night…

Guests walk the red tartan carpet:

The Telegraph’s Hilary Alexander with Antonio Berardi:

These guys know how to do Glasgow glam!

Television presenter Laura Whitmore, who hosted the awards, wearing Graeme Black:

Jade Parfitt, wearing Stella McCartney, covered the awards for Vogue TV. Overheard in the press room: Jade having fun convincing a journalist it’s an urban myth that her dad is Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt and that he’s actually a school teacher in Lowestoft!    

The adorable Paolo Nutini, winner of the Scottish Fashion Icon award. Paolo told me he was wearing ‘absolutely everything’ by Armani, which prompted much inappropriate (and, let’s face it, cougar-esque) thinking about his Armani-branded undergarments! 

Diana Vickers’ shoes:

The flowers were designed to look like the Scottish flag, with a cross of white roses on a blue background:

Nathalie Colin, Creative Director of sponsor Swarovski, with the Model of the Year finalists. I had a chat with Parisian Nathalie and she was absolutely charming.  Check out the necklace the model on the right is wearing – it’s stunning:

The bag that Swarovski designed specially for the event:

Scottish Designer of the Year Jonathan Saunders:

Holly Fulton, winner of the Scottish Young Designer of the Year award:

Model David Gandy had just flown in from Milan, straight off the Dolce & Gabbana catwalk (nice bloke, but he’s not Paolo…):

Jade interviewing Paolo:

I was completely starstruck at seeing Queen Michelle and Queen Marie from Kingdom of Style. Far and away the best outfits of the night – love the Ana Locking skirts and those winged Melissa shoes:

And finally, me with my Blogger of the Year award (in my dreams! I was just helping this guy check the lighting): 

It was a great night and really interesting to see behind-the-scenes (I’ll be keeping my first ever press pass as a wee souvenir). Many thanks to Hartmann Media for inviting me and to Amy for doing the photography.

xx

Kingdom of Style’s Queen Michelle and Queen Marie image courtesy of  Hartmann Media.

All other photography by Amy Gilpin. See more of Amy’s photos here

Took a wander through Princes Street Gardens in the sunshine yesterday - sometimes it’s nice to be a tourist in your home town. The outfit du jour was a cream and blue broderie anglaise smock dress from Darling, my new favourite label. 

The Scott Monument – Edinburgh’s gothic space rocket (as named by Bill Bryson):

Edinburgh Castle:

An outfit that will never go out of fashion:

Spent the evening in Gran’s garden drinking prosecco and blethering…

Not a bad old life! Hope you had a fab Saturday too.  xx

Dress: Darling / Skinny jeans: Topshop / Ballet pumps: Topshop

I’ve never bought anything from Full Circle before but their AW10 collection looks amazing. I love all the black  (I always go back to black in winter) and the purple pieces are stunning.

The purple dress is the standout piece for me – it’s right up there at the top of my winter wishlist.

What do you think of the collection?

xx

Went to the  Snow Patrol concert at Bellahouston Park yesterday. Support acts were Editors, Frightened Rabbit and Band of Horses. A great night – and the rain held off too.

I’m not really a big festival-goer, but when I do go to an outdoor gig my essentials are mud-proof boots, my leopard print mac and a pint of cider! 

The night ended with a walk home (only a couple of miles, easier than trying to fight the other 25,000 people for a taxi!) and a visit to the local fish and chip shop – bliss!

Hope you had  a fab weekend too.

xx

Leopard print mac: Miss Selfridge