Park life

This was the first outing for this dress, found second-hand in a market in Smithfield. It wasn't the perfect day that it seems. It was drizzly and cold most of the time and now as a result I am nursing the first cold of the season. But we did catch a bit of ephemeral sun in the end. For, like, 10 minutes. Still, this park, the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin, is beautiful and there was hardly anyone there (I wonder why) so I can't complain. 

This time the photos are taken by the amazing Marta Starosta, who is a proper photographer and everything. And it shows. It was really hard to choose from the many wonderful photos she took. One day I will buy myself a proper camera and learn how to take photos by myself. In the meantime, I rely on the kindness of friends.

I love this outfit and the clashes of colours, but now that I think about it, everything is either second-hand, borrowed or I've had it for a long time. Sorry.

Details:

Dress ~ second-hand (Topshop)

Cardigan ~ Benetton (old)

Hat ~ from the same market I bought the dress, borrowed from my friend Karen.

Bag ~ Carousel (also a long time ago)

Necklace ~ Carousel (same as above)

Boots ~ Clarks (old)

Coat ~ second-hand (H&M)

Never too early for Christmas jumpers

Hey, if it's chilly out and you have a cozy Christmas jumper, why wait until Christmas when everyone else is wearing theirs, right?

We snapped this with Karen real quick before heading for Mexican dinner in town. I'm a poster child for Penneys again, but I have to stock up on their stuff before I leave, me thinks.

Details:

Jumper: Penneys/Primark (they forgot to put this up on the web, but it's definitely still in the shops)

Skirt: Penneys /Primark

Hat: Borrowed from Karen, also from Penneys/Primark

Shoes: bought in Barcelona yonks ago

Rainbows, lollipops & roller skates

If the good Lord had intended us to walk,

he wouldn't have invented roller skates. 

 Willy Wonka

I had so much fun taking these photos. I hadn't put on my roller skates in yeeeeears. It was great to know I can still skate and putting together this outfit was half of the fun. Skates are '80s retro so of course everything else followed. There's a whole story behind that jacket Back in 2011 I participated in a Fringe festival project in Dublin. A woman decided to declutter her house and opened up a shop, giving away all her stuff, in exchange for advice on lots of different things. She had a list of questions, and you could pick one question in exchange for one item. The website for the project is still up. So that's how I got this jacket. I wore this same pink tutu at Pride this year. You can't really see it but it sparkles. The skates I bought a while ago in Office. And the Star Wars backpack I borrowed from Karen. She says it's from Tesco and it used to contain boys swimwear? You can never have too much Star Wars stuff, especially borrowed stuff. 

Oh and if you squint you can see Pippi Longstocking on my necklace. It comes from Barcelona, I wish I remember the name of the shop.

Now my once-injured foot hurts but it was so worth it.

Thanks to Karen for all the photos and video <3

Details:

Pink tutu ~ Claire's 

Jacket ~ Topshop, swapped for life advice.

Skates ~ Office, a long time ago

Stripey top ~ charity shopped

Glitter heart shades ~ Penney's (Primark) a good while ago

Gloves ~ a present

Frozen hearts

There's so much I love about this outfit. For starters, I got to wear this red cardigan I bought a while back in Barcelona and somehow never wore. It's cold here in Ireland and the little cardi is flimsy and low cut. But it's so pretty. I need to find more ways to wear it. Then the dress underneath. It's from my favourite shop in Dublin, called Carousel. It has lots of vintage-inspired and real vintage clothes. There's hardly ever anything there than I don't like. They don't stock this dress anymore, but have a look anyway, they have so many more gorgeous things. They always fit perfectly and they're super comfortable. And my little necklace. I LOVE it. My friend Karen got it for me, and she got one for herself too, so we can play at being twins. The hat is hers too. I need to increase my hat collection. So far it amounts to one, purple and sparkly. Not very versatile. 

My kind neighbour saw her taking photos of me and he offered to take a photo of us together, so here she is. Maybe this will encourage her to start a blog of her own:)

Details:

Cardigan ~ Tiralahilacha

Dress ~ Carousel 

Hat ~  Primark/Penneys

Necklace ~ present (from Primark too, I think)

Life on a shoestring

I'm feeling the yellow this year. It's always been a colour I never connected with, but this year something changed. It must be the summer calling me, telling me to return to my warm and sunny homeland in Italy. And I will do just that, in less than two months. I'll be leaving Ireland, where I've spent more than a decade and all my adult life, to return to Tuscany and try to make a life there again. It's going to be a challenge. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this island as much as possible. And the friends I'll leave behind, like the wonderful Karen who took these pictures. Thanks Kaz for the lovely weekend. 

The title of this post comes from a spur of the moment, to tie a shoestring around my collar. I've seen pictures with shirts and ribbons, and they look lovely but I didn't have a ribbon than went with this outfit so I just took a shoestring. I think it's going to be my signature look from now on :)

Details: 

Jumper ~ Pimkie

Shirt ~ charity shopped

Shorts ~ Forever 21

Shoes ~ Schuh

Bag ~ H&M a while ago

    

    

Preppy Librarian

This outfit comes entirely from Primark (Penneys in Ireland) and I'll probably be shunned from the 'fashion' blogging community for that. But I don't care. I love it. And it was super cheap, so it's a win win. I love the colour combination, and it's comfy and warm and it's a perfect attire for the office, school or the library (as in my case)

Details:

Skirt

Cardigan

Shirt (not exact match, mine isn't on their website, but it's definitely in the shops, I promise you.)

Necklace

Tribal cardigan

This cardigan is my latest favourite thrifty find so it's fitting I would start with this outfit. I had seen it on a The Sartorialist but I only realised it was the same cardi later, I only thought it was really pretty and comfy and only 7 quid. I wore it with a black tank top underneath, denim shorts, tights and leather boots.

Details: 

Cardigan: Thrifted but you can get it here.

Shorts: Forever 21

Tights: Forever 21

Boots: Clarks from a couple of years ago

Globe necklace: Rua