FASHION // Haul - Urban Outfitters & Zara

Recently, I headed to London and of course, me being me, I couldn't avoid the shops. Here's a few things I picked up from the Oxford Street Urban Outfitters as well as the Regent Street Zara. 

URBAN OUTFITTERS

 In all honesty, Urban Outfitters are probably one of my favourite shops. I love their grunge/indie vibe, but it's just so expensive. SO I leapt at the 50% sale opportunity and picked myself up this incredible dress. I saw it on the hanger and I just loved the simplicity of it, then when I tried it on I fell in love with the back. I tend to expose my back as it's probably my favourite part of my body so this is perfect. It is so well cut and hangs in a really nice way on the body. I love the differentiation of strap thickness at the front, as well as the slouchy fit. I have in mind either wearing this with strappy heels OR a pair of boots with a plaid shirt tied around the waist. I just love it. 

SIZE M // Sparkle & Fade // Originally £38.00 SALE £20

 It's inevitable that if I'm in an Urban Outfitters I'll buy a plaid shirt. I live in these and am forever chucking them over a dress on a night out or heading to Sixth Form in them. BDG are my favourite brand to buy plaid shirts from as they always have the perfect colour ways, as well as being really good quality and cut well. I've been on the market for a green based plaid shirt for quite a while and this ticked every box I had. These are great to wear buttoned up, open at the collar over unbuttoned over something. 

SIZE M // BDG // Original £40 SALE £25 

ZARA

We all know I'm a sucker for Zara. When I'm not being all grunge/indie, it's my go-to shop. Every thing is cut so well, the designers are perfect to the finest detail and it's such good quality. Sometimes you can grab a real bargain, but a lot of it is extremely expensive. Being in the Regent Street Zara I knew it'd be rude to not get something and when I saw this dress, I knew I wasn't leaving without it.

The photo isn't exactly the most flattering, but honestly, this dress looks gorgeous on, [I'll do a better OOTD soon]. I adore the lilac colour and it'll look incredible with a tan. The high neck just adds a little bit of detail and the short sleeves mean it's perfect for the summer. I love how quirky the eye design is. It's the 'scuba' material so it's a little strange to the touch but it hands so well on the body without making me look boxy [yay for big boob gals!] I am imaging this with heels, a tan and a coral lipstick - or I could integrate it with my own grunge/indie style with a leather jacket and pair of boots, silver accessories would look amazing with this. 

SIZE S // Zara // £25.99

So I got the dress home and I was scrolling through my Tumblr...look familiar?

LIFE // London Take 1

I live right on top of London so it's a bit strange that I've never found the time to explore the city. Whenever I'm in London it's for a purpose so I don't really get to wander around and be a tourist, but yesterday I happened to be in London and there was no purpose...so I took my camera and become a right tourist. 

I started off the morning with a trip to St Paul's Cathedral. 

Initially, we had a look round on foot but there's a cafe on the roof of the shopping centre a minutes walk away from the Cathedral called 'One New Change'. You get on a glass lift that takes you up with an incredible view of St Pauls, then once on the roof the view is even better.

LEFT: View from the glass lift
RIGHT: View from escalator coming out of shopping centre

View from One New Change rooftop

View from the rooftop of 'One New Change'

Next, we headed to The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben looking all gloomy and tall 

The Houses of Parliament // Big Ben  

Being an ultimate loser & posing with a red telephone box that I walk past every single day.
OUTFIT: Croptop - Primark // Leather Jacket - H&M // Acid wash jeans - H&M // Plaid shirt - BDG [Urban Outfitters]
There are many outfit changes during this day, to warn you. I brought my shirt, a Zara jumper, the croptop and my leather jacket and spent the entire day interchanging everything.

I hope you enjoyed PART 1 of my London Adventures, in PART 2 I'll be heading to Trafalgar Square, the  London Eye at sunset, Regent/Oxford & Bond Street, as well as my favourite place in London, Picadilly Circus & Leicester Square. 

Stay tuned for lots more photos! 

LIFESTYLE // University Update

On my old blog, I wrote a little bit about my first year of Sixth Form and my motivation towards University etc. Between then and now, a lot has changed and so I thought I'd write a little post to update everyone on my thoughts & choices, which may or may not be helpful to you. I am going to be writing my thoughts on second year A Levels in an upcoming blog post, but this is just a general thoughts based mainly on my year ahead + University. 

I'm at a point in my life where the decisions I make are really going to affect my future. In the past, I've always had another year, or another term to make my choices but now I literally don't. In two months I'm sitting my final A Level exams and that's it, education done and dusted. I've made the decision to defer my entry into University to 2015 for two reasons. One, I don't feel that I'm ready to pack my bags and go to University in September, I've spent all of my life so far in education and I just feel as if I need a breather. Secondly, I'm not entirely sure I want to go, I don't take well to education and it doesn't come easily to me, I'd love to go on and get my degree in Psychology [my course choice] but at this current moment I feel as if it's just not for me. A gap year allows me to defer my entry, still giving me the option of picking it up in 2015 while allowing me to have a year off, go travelling, do what I want for the first time and get some money behind me.

In my old post I discussed that I wanted to go to Loughborough University to study clinical psychology and I  feel so shit to say that I didn't get a conditional offer from them. The grade boundaries were far to high and I should've seen it coming, so Loughborough is no longer an option for me.  I am frustrated at myself for not doing better in the first year, because if I'd have gotten a conditional offer things might be a lot different now. However, I'm a strong believer in fate and I think that not getting into Loughborough only brought me to where I am now and that's for the best.

Honestly, I don't see myself going to University, instead getting a job in London and ultimately moving that way. I'd love to have a job in the week and be able to maintain and keep this blog/YouTube going, but have enough money to be able to keep it interesting. I'm so in love with London and right now, that's the one thing that's keeping me motivated as I really do see myself living there. Obviously, it's not going to happen over night and I need to get a lot of money behind me and be financially stable before I can even think about it, but I aim to spend the rest of this year working my ass off to get saving some money, so that in January 2015 I can think about re-locating. 

All in all, I just wanted to say in this blog post that your choices at the end of secondary school will be dramatically different to what you want when you're about to leave Sixth Form. This time in 2012 there was no way I was going to University, or Sixth Form for that matter, in 2013, I was dead set on University to get a degree in Clinical Psychology and now in 2014, I'm looking to work and move to London. I am incredibly motivated to get the best grades I can in my exams in May/June as if I'm not going on to get a degree I need the best A Levels I can get. 

What I am trying to say in this blog post is don't worry if your plans change, whether it's now or in a years time. There are so many paths and options you can take, at this age it's all about making choices and either loving them or regretting them and it's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all at an age where we're becoming or are adults and it's our lives, if you want to do something do it and don't let anyone tell you different. I know uprooting and moving to London is going to be incredibly hard, but I'm going to try every means possible to do it. I may well end up living at home for the next two years, but if that means at the end of 2015 I finally get an apartment in London it'll be well worth it. It's so true that you get out what you put in and I do wish I'd realised this earlier but that doesn't matter, because I know it now. 

All I'm saying is make sure it's what you want. Don't do it for anyone else but yourself. If you want to go to University do it, if you want to take a gap year do it...if you want to go and get a job just do it. It's your life and the choices you make are entirely yours. It's well worth visiting as many University's as you can, looking at jobs, getting experience etc. I think 17-20 are the most important years of your life, you just need to work hard and find that goal to hang onto to give you the motivation to do so.

I hope this may have helped some of you that are going through the indecisive stage like me, I'll be uploading my Sixth Form/A Levels thoughts post really soon, so that'll hopefully be helpful to! If you have any questions for me regarding gap years, Uni, Sixth Form etc tweet me: @gblnihn 
But most importantly:

FASHION // Oscar's Weekend

Lets begin with the question that's on everyone's lips...WHERE THE FUCK IS LEO'S OSCAR? 

*and breathe*

The OSCAR's are done and dusted for another year, so I decided to do one big blog mash-up of all of tonight fashion including The OSCAR's Red Carpet, the Vanity Fair After Party and the Elton John Foundation OSCAR's Party. 

I thought I'd start the post with my two best dressed males, obviously Leonardo DiCaprio made it to the top of my list. There's something about this man in a tux that makes me wish all guys had to spend one day a week in a suit, then there's Benedict Cumberbatch who I most definitely have a crush a on.

Don't tell me there's anything better than a guy in a suit. Don't you dare. 

Right, onto my best dressed ladies of the OSCAR's 2014. 

In my opinion, there was a lot of the same and only a few ladies stood out to me. I love seeing people go for something eye-catching on the red carpet, but most of all flatters them instead of a designer putting them in a dress that they clearly aren't comfortable in/doesn't fit them. 

Lupita Nyong'o blew me away and was by far one of my favourite looks of the night. I adore the colour and cut of her Prada gown, teamed with a Fred Leighton headband her outfit seemed heavily influenced by a Grecian style. The dress flattered her frame incredibly well, looking elegant on the red carpet, if a little bit daring with the plunging neckline.

Of course Jennifer Lawrence made it onto my best dressed list [you may well see her again later on in this post], wearing a red Dior couture gown, Dior seemingly her go-to red carpet designer. I think J-Law looked so sophisticated and mature in this dress, but the colour gave it a youthful vibe. I love the peplum detail to give a little bit of interest to the dress, I like that it wasn't over accessorised. I'm not a huge fan of the hair ever since she chopped it all off but she looks gorgeous.

Emma Watson is flawless. No matter whether its hitting the streets in London or a red carpet at the Oscar's, she always manages to look incredible. I love her Vera Wang dress, the messy pony tail and the understated red lip. Emma seems to be one of very few celebrities that knows how to dress for herself/what suits her and she always manages to pull something really elegant out of the bag. 

Last but certainly not least, Margot Robbie. Anyone remember her as Donna on Neighbours? Well...I was a little shocked to see her iconic blonde locks now brown but I am growing to like it. However we look at this, she's wearing Saint Laurent and for me, that's a massive tick. I love seeing a black dress on the red carpet, people try so hard to stand out and go for something different, sometimes its a black dress that is the most eye catching. 

Onto the Vanity Fair afterparty.

I love award show after parties because 1) you get all the celebrities that weren't invited to the award-show rock up & 2) it's an outfit change into something a little bit jazzier. 

Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely looked a-m-a-zing. I saw this picture of her on Twitter and I felt a little bit sad because she does look so gorgeous. Wearing a Cushnie et Ochs gown, I love the sheer cut outs that give the illusion of shape, as well as the colour. I think her accessories and hair just added to the outfit, she looked so natural and glowing, while keeping an elegant vibe to her outfit.

Donatella Versace & Lady Gaga, need I say more? The two coolest, fiercest ladies around, with impeccable style and don't they looked as if they're mother and daughter. Both gowns are flawless and that's all I really have to say on the matter.

Jennifer Lawrence makes her second appearance in this post. This time in a Tom Ford dress, firstly I think this cut flatters her a lot more than any ball gowns she's worn to red carpet events - I adore the metalic silver and sheer cut outs, as well as the simple heels and I think that her hair is a lot better suited to this dress than the Dior gown. J-Law didn't pop Molly [lets hope], she just rocked Tom Ford. 

Onto the Elton John Foundation's Oscar after-party.

I know Versace when I see it and Irina Shayk looked absolutely incredible. Kind of reminding me of Jessica Rabbit, I honestly think Irina is one of the most beautiful models around at the moment. At the events I've seen her at, she's always got in bang on and similar to Emma Watson knows what suits her and how to rock it. 

Emily Ratajkowski is without a doubt my biggest girl crush ever. Her bod is perfect and her face is pretty damn beautiful too. Although she's famous for getting her body out, I love how demure she looked in the knotted gown above. Emily's make-up is always bang on, looking really natural and dewy - while her hair usually has a little bit of a messy vibe to it, I love this off the face style that show-cases just how pretty she is.

Last but not least are the Kardashian sisters. In my eyes, Khloe, Kim and Kourtney are some of the most fashion forward women on the Globe. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the bottom of Kim's gown, but the top, mixed with the relaxed wave of her hair looked gorgeous. I have said this time and time again, I think women that can pull of a suit deserve more respect and appreciation, Kourtney looked effortlessly cool in her suit. But for me, Khloe was by far best dressed. Jessica Rabbit chic, I love a dark lip on Khloe and her newly blonde hair looks incredible. This gown showed off her amazing figure, with a daring but elegant plunging neckline. 

LIFESTYLE // Rizzle Kicks // March 1st 2014

I've been to quite a few gigs in my 18 years of life, so let me tell you this is no exaggeration when I say that the Rizzle Kicks gig I went to last night in Hammersmith, London was by far the best live act I have ever seen. 

I'm always a little apprehensive about 'special guests' and 'supporting acts' as they'll either be similar to the headliner or completely different. The first act, Thunderbird Gerard [HERE] really surprised me and although it's cliche to say, I've actually become a massive fan. There's something Childish Gambino/Kendrick Lamar about him. He had a great stage presence and really got the crowd going which is always difficult being the first act on. I have spent most the morning listening to his songs and I'm really considering going to see him on his own tour. Plus, he wasn't that bad on the eye. His music has a really unique sound and is more multi-dimensional than your usual rap songs, I love 'Trouble' [HERE]. 

I've been a huge fan of Rizzle Kicks ever since 'Down with the Trumpets' dropped. Although they're labelled as being 'pop', you have Harley who has the most beautiful soulful voice that I've ever heard live and Jordan who's an incredibly talented rapper. Their music does have a pop sound to it but that is definitely masked by the jazz vibe. The contrast of Harley's voice and Jordan's rapping usually wouldn't make sense but together its perfect. I always think of Rizzle Kicks are being two guys you'd hang out with, they seem really down to Earth and were so interactive with the crowd. There were a lot of  'tongue-in-cheek' moments, for example having Mary Poppin's 'A Spoonful of Sugar' as one of the pre-act song choices, as well as opening the show with the theme tune of 20th Century Fox. Rizzle Kicks manage to balance really soulful moments [Harley singing a cover of Ray Charles' 'Georgia on my mind'] with their songs that you can't help but dance like a complete loser to [Mama do the Hump, Down with the Trumpets]. I adored the use of live trumpets and saxophones, it gave Rizzle Kicks such a unique spin compared to other artists that reply on a laptop and some speakers, or just simply your generic band setup. 

Going into the gig, I had a massive thing for Jordan but coming out I've got a huge soft spot for Harley. They were both so charismatic on stage and the crowd was electric. 

Mixing their first album 'Stereo Typical' and their latest album 'The Roaring 20's' they played classics such as 'Down with the Trumpets', 'Mama do the Hump', 'Traveller's Chant' and some new songs such as 'Lost Generation' and my personal favourite from their second album 'I love you more than you think'. 

I've never been to a gig that's had such a cool vibe, purely because everyone could let their hair down, pull some shockingly bad dance moves and listen to some real live music. There was nothing pretentious about the performance as Jordan and Harley weren't afraid to dance and have a laugh, which its really refreshing as artists are usually extremely uptight these days and to see them loosing their shit over Jason Derulo's song 'Talk Dirty' was just brilliant. 

There's something so effortlessly cool about these two guys as well as the fact they're extremely talented, as well as being totally British [which we discovered they're very proud of after Jordan's speech] unique. I would pay time and time again to see these guys. I honestly had such a laugh and really let loose. I genuinely cannot get over how great a night I had and I've never raved this much about a gig before.

Rizzle Kicks most definitely get 10/10 for their gig last night and I've never given anyone that before.