Jeans Jeans Jeans (#2)

Hello everyone,

 

As you may (or may not) remember, "Jeans Jeans Jeans #1" was one of my first ever blog posts. I've always wanted to do a second post and now is a good as time as any so here we go!

 

Today I'm going to be talking about lighter coloured jeans. Whilst I was doing my research for the first jeans post, I realised how big the topic of jeans actually is! It's so varied. So I'm planning on doing yet another follow up in which I will talk about different shaped jeans and maybe another one on styles such as rips? I don't know, tell me what you think!

Lets jump right in...

 

So I said I was talking about light jeans, where's a better place to start than white jeans? White jeans can take you anywhere and are super in style, especially during the spring and summer, but sometimes it's hard to know how to wear them. Here are some ideas:

 

Most importantly, you have to realise that unlike some other jeans, white jeans are a statement piece in themselves. Therefore, what you wear with them becomes even more crucial.

 

Contrasting black or dark colours on top whilst wearing white jeans is always a head turner. It's perfect for spring and autumn when it's not quite summer but wearing white jeans is still acceptable.

 

Another way to wear white jeans is with a light top. For spring and summer, this is a look that will bring out your inner goddess. If you're not feeling all white, break it up with accessories. Coloured shoes, bags, plaid shirts, different textures, belts. Anything you like to break up the look.

 

 

When wearing white jeans, there is one thing you need to remember...

UNDIES

Now is not the time to wear your new frilly lace or novelty Disney underwear. Stick with a seamless nude knicker that blends into your own skin colour. M&S do some good no VPL underwear and New Look do seamless nude thongs if you think you'd prefer them.

 

 

Light blue is the classic light jean and is so easy to wear. Unlike white jeans, they're not a statement in themselves which gives you a bit of freedom to go a lil' crazy when it comes to accessorizing. Whether that means crazy coloured/textured tops, or styles that you have never tried before, the blue jean lets you unleash your inner fashionista.

 

 

Light blue is generally very casual but can be dressed up nicely with a posh top. It's crazy how much of a difference a pair of shoes can make. Pair light blue jeans with trainers and you have an outfit causal enough for the park. Pair them with some nude stilettos and you have a great outfit for the city in the summer.

 

If you're into denim on denim, which is making a comeback, light blue is the most obvious denim style to go for. If you went for black denim on denim it might just look like leggings. By going with blue jeans and a denim top of some kind, its a look that shouts "I'm wearing double denim. What are you going to do about it?!" And I love that.

 

 

Grey skinnies truly are staples, second to the classic blue jean and/or black denim; they are pants of versatility. Though grey is grouped with the likes of black and white as a classic color, in denim it possesses edgy unconventionalism.

 

If you're part of a fandom and are not hopping on the black ripped skinny jeans trend, grey skinny jeans look great with a band or logo top. Alternatively, pair them with a white blouse, black blazer and black stilettos and you have got yourself a classy evening outfit.

 

 

Just as an added idea, grey looks really classy with nudes (I'm thinking nude stilettos!!) and is perfect for the spring summer time- when the weather isn't quite what it should be.

 

If you're feeling very brave, there are some other options jean wise this summer...

 

 

Paired with a plain top and some summery wedges, light coloured jeans can work. I don't wear them personally but of you can pull them off and style them correctly, they can look stunning in the summer.

 

That leads me to the end of light jeans. I think it's important to always wear you. Don't just go for the style and colour that everyone has, wear what you like. Have you ever worn bootleg or boyfriend jeans? If not, try them. What've you got to lose?

 

In general, light jeans are amazing for the summer and can easily transfer from casual picnic to classy dinner in a couple of changes. If you're wondering where to get jeans from, I do a whole section on it in Jeans Jeans Jeans #1. Also check that out if you're interested in dark jeans.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post today and good luck building your summer wardrobes :)

Please share, like and comment and look out for the next post in the jeans series: different shapes.

 

Thanks for reading,

Laura Stone x

 

Prom: Buying your Dress

Prom season.

I literally shudder at the thought of prom preparations, half from excitement and half from fear. It's come round again and whether it's a full on prom, casual party or just an end of year do, there is one thing we will all need: a dress.


















Luckily for you guys (hopefully), I have been to a prom in my life and I have just bought my dress for my second. So I thought this was a perfect time to write a blog post on buying your prom dress.


Let's start with some tips:

1. Start early but not first. You do not want to be the first of your friends to get a dress because you might get the complete wrong type of dress for the party you're going to. But also being early and showing a few of your friends means that you're less likely to get the same dress as someone and you won't have that last minute stress - especially as it's normally around exam season.
2. Know the basic 'dress code.' So obviously most of you will be wearing dresses but you might want to get a feel whether people are going very fancy, long or short dresses and what not. So you won't stick out like a sore thumb. (Although obviously the colour and style is up to you and standing out isn't always a bad thing.)
3. Don't stress too much. These days there is so much pressure on your dress, I remember my first prom I was so worried about it- for no real reason? Just try and enjoy the experience of buying a super gorgeous dress and don't get too hung up on the other stuff going on.
4. Avoid buying online. In my opinion, buying your prom dress online is unwise. You don't know how it's going to fit, how it's going to look on you and what the quality will be like. I may be wrong (my best friend buys all hers online), but I find returning stuff too much effort so I always buy in person. 

Now to actually finding the dress.

Firstly, I would do a little internet research. Try and find out what dress suits your body shape (or just the style you love the most.) Then go online and look at the ranges of your favourite shops. Not necessarily looking for "the one" just to get  a feel for the kind of dresses and styles available this year.

There are the obvious ones: Topshop, Miss Selfridge ect...

But try some different shops to avoid getting the same as everyone else going!

• ASOS has a massive range of dresses for different levels of formality
• John Lewis has some amazing evening dresses
• Or somewhere even more obscure like Needle and Thread

Once you have got an idea of what you want, it's time to go shopping!!
I recommend either going to a big shopping centre or going to a city that is going to have lots of small boutiques. This way you will not be limited to the shops you always go in, reducing your chances of getting the same dress as somebody else.

If you have a big budget or are lucky enough to catch the sales: little boutiques are perf. The dresses they sell are normally unique and they can help fit to your exact size. They might not have the biggest range but it takes so much stress away knowing that no one else will have your dress. The people running these stores are also very passionate about their business so will help you in any way.
You might know a little town that will have boutiquey type shops or you can look online, type in the area and 'prom dresses'. Hopefully it should conjure a list of shops specifically for prom dresses in your chosen area.

If you're looking in a shopping centre it may be a bit overwhelming. Take your time, don't buy the first thing you try on and like. (But you should definitely ask them to put it behind the desk for you so it's there if you decide to go back and get it.) Try not to get distracted by trying on every dress you like, it sounds silly but you need to focus, once you put on a dress if you don't think you're going to buy it: take it off. Also, keep an eye out for shops selling shoes and clutches because that's what's next once you have a dress.

Whilst shopping, avoid Topshop, Newlook, River Island (unless you love one in there) because they are too common and someone else will probably have them. Department stores are great as they sell nice evening wear and a variety of brands. Sometimes it's worth having a look in the bridal section as some bridesmaid dresses could work as prom dresses.

Don't limit yourself to one style, try on different styles and colours- you'd be surprised how stunning you could look in a dress you'd never consider before.
I set out that I wanted blue fitted dress but I've ended up getting a green maxi. I love it though. I just have certain things I look out for: a nice neckline, back and preferable a slit up the leg. My green dress has all of that, and it looks fabby so the colour and style didn't really matter to me.


Similarly, don't limit yourself on budget. Even if you have a smaller budget, go into some of the more expensive stores as they might have sales and reductions that puts your perfect dress into your budget.


Before you buy your dress, check the returns policy. It probably won't be very long but it's worth knowing. When I bought my dress, I got a 7 days return policy so I knew if I wanted to change my dress, I'd have to be pretty quick.

I like to continue looking before the final date of the returns policy just in case. But once a weeks gone by, it's time to concentrate on shoes and a clutch... there's no going back on the dress now.

You could try:

• Lipsy
• Phase Eight
• Coast
• Debenhams

Thanks for reading and I hope this helped some of you! Good luck and most importantly have fun.

Laura Stone x

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Please share and let me know what you think or if you have got a prom dress by either commenting or tweeting me @laurastone_

Jeans Jeans Jeans (#1)

Whether you're just running to the supermarket or going on a super sheek city break- jeans are perfect. In fact, so perfect that almost 80% of the time, jeans are the  go to option for school. But... they're expensive. So I'm going to talk about the jeans which are compulsory for every student's wardrobe and where to get them, affordably. In today's post (#1), I'm going to be covering darker coloured jeans.

Not to state the obvious but, navy jeans, duh? Sheek yet classy, fashionable yet subtle. Whether its super skinny or bootleg, navy is always the way to go. Personally, super skinny is my favourite, a tight fitting pair of jeans can do wonders, but that doesn't mean other styles are not just as good.

 And lets talk about 'navy' for a minute because there are so many options. Dark navy is always very classy- close but a lil better than black jeans. They look stunning with most light blouses or blazers, however they can be paired with a large range of tops pretty easily. Shoes wise, black boots or killer heals are stunningly elegant with navy jeans. My heart is beating faster just thinking about this outfit.

I'm also including dark blue in the 'navy' category (else we'll be here all day.) Dark blue are lighter- as the name suggests- and a bit more casual than navy jeans. They normally look great with converses and a summery top as opposed to a more formal outfit.

 

 

Talking about dark jeans: black is always breath taking. They make your legs look toned and sheek and go with practically everything. Like everything. I love black jeans with a black leather jacket for the 'too cool for you' look. But to be honest, they go with anything that leggings would go with but just formalise the outfit a lil.

 

 

 

Other dark jeans that get an honoury mention are: dark green and burgundy! Both great for autumn through to spring.

Okay, so you've decided which dark jeans you want to buy. But where do you go now? Here are my opinions on some more affordable jean options:

 

I wanted to show a clear comparison between the 3 big stores. So here are the prices of a basic black pair of jeans from the stores:

 

New Look- £12.99 (here)

 

H&M- £14.99 (here)

 

Topshop- £40.00 (here)

 

Primark- £7.00 (no link, sorry)

 

• I love New look jeans: they're normally good quality, a nice colour and have a large range. But be careful when washing NewLook jeans, they can sometimes lose there colour or shape. If you follow the recommendations it should be okay though. New Look jeans vary from about £10-£30 depending on the style which isn't half bad? The pictures in this post are all from Newlook to demonstrate jeans styled on models.

 

• Another place I like for jeans is H&M. I bought some gorgeous super skinny light blue jeans from H&M recently, only for about £15 as well. I think H&M has a really good range with los of colours, styles and the option to have low rise, mid rise and high waisted.

 

• Primark. Primark. Primark. Okay don't laugh, Primark jeans can sometimes be quite decent if you're lucky! It does mean entering and searching through hundreds of piles of clothes which isn't great. But then, a standard pair of jeans for £7 could be worth it? I've bought jeans from Primark that I wanted to rip myself and I actually quite liked them. Definitely not for going the distance, but for £7, what the hell? I would recommend Primark if you're just trying to bulk up your wardrobe so want to get lots of pairs of jeans... Maybe not if you're looking for great quality

. 

• I know you're all screaming "Topshop!!!" at me right now. Hang on, I'm just getting there. Yes. Topshop jeans are awesome, massive range of styles and actually surprisingly comfortable. But I wanted to write blogs for those of us who don't have the money to spend £60 on jeans. Whether your saving for a car or Uni, it's just not reasonable. But if you're lucky enough, go for it girl! 

 

So... that's a roundup of my favourite dark jeans and where to get them. Look out for my next 'Jeans Jeans Jeans' post where I will be covering light jeans, where to get them and jeans bonus (e.g how ripped is too ripped?)

 

Hope this helped some of you building your wardrobes for the new year,

see you next time!

 

Laura Stone x