All black on a grey day

On Saturday evening we went out to celebrate my best friend’s birthday. It was quite a grey day but I managed to fit in some quick outfit shots, just before walking the dogs.

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I am making an effort to be more strict with my blogging schedule this year and aiming to take outfit pictures every Saturday, or at least once a week. I have tried this previously and managed to keep it going for a few months but I always end up getting swamped with work and giving up at some point.

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Fitting in blogging while running a business and a household can be tricky, but I’m trying to change things around to give me more time for blog posts and videos. I also filmed the “furry friends” tag for my youtube channel on Saturday so keep an eye out for that!

stacey Black fashion blogger and Ziva

Outfit Details

Jacket: ASOS

Jumper: Topshop

Trousers: Zara

Shoes: Miista

Bag: Givency

Necklace: Richard Ayres

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A festive day out in faux fur

December was quite a hectic month for me, running your own business can be hard at the best of times, but when you have 3 times as many orders to get through, as well as your own Christmas shopping and preparations, things can get tough.

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manchester fashion blogger and designer stacey black

This was a day in early December when I managed to escape from the madness for lunch at the Alchemist and a walk around the Manchester Christmas markets with my mum and her cousins.

 

As I was getting ready to leave, I found myself wishing I had a new coat to amp up my outfit and was overjoyed to realise that it was just about cold enough to wear this wonderful faux fur coat from last year’s winter collection for Eustratia. I had been keeping it hidden away in a garment bag so as not to risk ruining it before I had finished shooting it.

 

I was originally going thinking it would dress my outfit up and make it look a touch more feminine. Looking back at the photos however, I realised that paired with the braids and chainmail jewellery, it probably makes me look more like a hollywood version of a Viking queen, which I consider a happy accident.

 

 

 

 

 

To achieve this makeup look, I used my recently purchased Morphe 35T palette and Gerard cosmetics liquid lipstick in “invasion”.givenchy pumpkin bag

 

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Outfit details:

Coat: Eustratia

Sequin front jeans and cardigan: Topshop

Jewellery: Richard Ayres

Bag: Givenchy

Shoes: Miista

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Autumn/Winter wishlist (and black Friday deals)

This post has been in the works for a while. I tried to write it last month but wasn’t feeling inspired enough by fall trends to find enough items that I liked. This week however, all the talk of holidays and sales has speared e into action and I have actually discovered that I have a bit of a thing for marble print, apparently! autumnwinter16 wishlist

 

  1. Marble print sunglasses by Quay @topshop £24 in the sale! These are the perfect pair of statement sunglasses to shield the winter sun from your eyes.
  2. Hourglass Surreal light palette, £69 SpaceNK  Yes, this is pricey but I loved last year’s version and I would use this all the time too.
  3. Spectrum “marbelous” 7 piece brush set, £24 in the Beautybay sale.  Beautiful affordable brushes with great reviews.
  4. Spectrum marble print bag £16.99, spectrum (I had to update the link as it has sold out on beautybay).
  5. Embellished cold shoulder jumper £46, topshop
  6. Miista Uma shoes £129 but there are various black Friday discount codes available.
  7. Swell marble print water bottle, £25 urban outfitters This appears quite pricey for the size, but as someone who as carried a plastic bottle around in my handbag since I can remember, I think I would be glad to swap it for a non cancer-causing stainless steel version.
  8. Poison moon ring by Dixi, £32 but will be discounted by up to 50% throughout black Friday weekend.

 

I hope you find some things you love in the sales this year!

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Urban Dreamscapes

Yesterday I went fabric shopping and met my friend Laura in town for lunch. We stumbled across this garden installation (which I assume was made to advertise dreamscape gardens, cool idea) on the side of the road and decided to take some pictures.

It was interesting to have my picture taken by someone who is an artist but not a photographer, as the images we ended up with are slightly outside the norm for this type of post, but I really like them.

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Photography by Laura Powell

Outfit:

Jacket: MUUBAA

Dress: Miss Selfridge

Leggings: Ebay

Boots: Dr. Martens

Bag: Givenchy

Glasses: H&M

Neckalace: Adorn

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Early summer Wishlist

I’ve started to change up my wardrobe a bit for summer and decided to feature some of the items I’ve had my eye on.

summer wisklist1.Gaby Mercury Half Metal Rim Sunglasses from House of Fraser. Half metal frame sunglasses with smoky gradient lenses, UV protection and only £15!

2. Oversized dress £39.99 by H&M. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like an overly flattering item but I think it could be a useful and versatile piece. its dramatic silhouette could really benefit from some accessories.

3. Natalie Shau “Teardrop” sweatshirt 54.95$ from Live heroes, with I think worked out around £35. I don’t normally go for such obvious prints but I loved the fact that she had recreated the look from the Givenchy AW 15/16 show, in her own signature style. The only downside to buying of this site (which is not the artist’s own) is that the item took around 8 weeks to arrive. I’m not sure if this is always the case but it was for me.

4. Ruby lace applique bralette $122 and thong $77 by For love and lemons. I love wearing sheer shirts and dresses in the summer and detailed bralettes are perfect for wearing underneath them. I love this set because the bottoms also look comfortable and interesting without being too fussy.

5. Andromeda V-neck £158 by Demobaza. I’ve known about this site for a while but never actually bought anything before. I wanted to try out a basic item first to see what I thought of the quality, before investing in a more elaborate piece.

6. Ash Absolute black £159 from Daniel footwear. I love wedge trainers all year round but I wanted to get a new pair for summer as my nike’s are a bit warm. These look perfect as they combine durable leather with breathable mesh and also have a white sole, which makes them look a bit more summery to me.

If you’re thinking that these don’t look all that summery, it’s because it isn’t quite sandals and short shorts weather here in the UK yet. but I’m hoping to do a midsummer wishlist next month with some holiday style stuff.

Let me know if you’re thinking of purchasing any of these items, I’d love to know what you think of them!

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