Lips Of The Month: Double Shot

Aloha!  I'm super excited today as I'm heading off to Glastonbury music festival tomorrow morning, so the rest of today will probably consist of assessing the entire contents of my wardrobe to see what can be deemed festival-worthy enough to be brought with me.  I thought I'd fit in a quick blog post before all that begins though, about something very important in my life right now: lipstick.  My relationship with lipstick has fluctuated over the years - when I was first getting into makeup (I'm talking 9/10/11 years old) I used to have these little tubes of Boots' 'Glitter Babes' lipstick in garish pinks and purples that smelt a bit dodgy and had the consistency of wax on your lips.  That was probably what put me off lipstick for about 6 years, when my love was reignited.  And now, well, I'm just obsessed, and my absolute favourite at the moment is this one... Mac's Double Shot.  

 

 I've always loved a good brown lipstick as they work so well for daytime or evening looks, and this one is perfect for both.  It's an 'amplified' finish which I find so much more forgiving than the matte finish for slightly chapped or dry lips. I love to wear this with winged liner and mascara as a really easy way to jazz up simple makeup. 

Let me know what you think of this lipstick and if you love it as much as I do.  I'll be off the blogging radar (I'll most probably be face down in a field somewhere in the West Country) from now until around Monday , when I'll certainly be back, undoubtedly armed with 10,000 gigabytes worth of photos to sift through and shape into hairy festival blog posts.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

Ruby x

5 for £5: Thrifty Sunday

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a particularly successful trip to the car boot sale last Sunday.  I find going to car boot sales a bit like going to Primark - undoubtedly chaotic and stressful but also very hit or miss - some weeks you buy it all and some weeks, well, you just don't.  This week was a deceptive one: me and my sister Laura spent ages trawling through the stalls, discarding countless mouldy handbags and moth eaten slippers to eventually conclude that this week, there was no booty to be had.  We went for a comiseratory coffee at our favourite place, and from there she went on to meet a friend.  This left me to walk back through the car boot sale myself... and I kid you not, within 5 minutes I had 5 items from 5 stalls for £5... and that's a lot of 5s.

And so, without further ado, here are the clothes!

 

The first thing I picked up was this sheer floaty 90s style top.  I love the paisley-esque pattern and the pinky nudey colours.  Anybody who knows me will know I love anything sheer so of course I couldn't resist this: I'll be styling it with a bralette or crop top underneath, some dark blue denim and silver jewellry.

Another one of my absolute favourite things in life is Adidas.  However, with my trainer collection fairly close to exploding at the seams, I am limited at the moment to their other pieces... which is mainly sportswear.  Considering I am not a particularly sporty person, (and when it does come down to it, I'd rather wear a baggy pyjama top covered in hair dye because I don't mind sweating in that) but just like the brand, for me, a great Adidas piece is one which can be worn as casual wear as well as sportswear.  So this top hits the nail on the head - it's perfect for festivals, worn with denim shorts and trainers or for a sports luxe look maybe with a tailored tennis style skirt.  The fit is fabulous too!

I absolutely fell in love with this oversized red hue denim shirt too.  When I spot nice men's clothes, I will pretty much always go through the same thought process: I think of the most significant men in my life (my Dad and my boyfriend, Josh) first, and ask myself whether it would suit either of them.  The answer to this question is almost always yes, probably, definitely.  I then think about myself, how much I like it, how I could wear it as an oversized piece, how I'm the only one who can truly love and appreciate it... this is usually the point where I come to a mental compromise of 'We can all share it', immediately justifying my purchase as selfless and obviously necessary.  This is exactly what happened on Sunday - I quickly bought the shirt and hurried home without any intention of letting it out of the house on anyone apart from me. 

This top is definitely my favourite purchase.  I'm constantly on the look out for white blouses because unfortunately, while in my clutches, their lifespan is limited by my love of tomato-based foods and messy eating habits.  So I'm going to do my utmost to try and protect this one.  Anything which goes with denim gets a big gold star from me, and this looks great with dark or light denim and red lipstick.  The good thing about shirts like these is they can be dressed up (skinny jeans and heels) or down (dungarees and sandals), too. 

 And last, but by no means least, these bad boys.  'You can never have too much denim' is basically my mantra, if you haven't been able to tell... these were a really lucky find though.  Perfect condition, pretty good fit, and really high-quality thick material - these will be great for festivals and other summer goings-on.  Excitemondo!  

Hope everyone's doing good!  Today I'm doing small, boring, menial tasks like repeatedly calling the dentist's surgery to try and get through the droves of callers to book an appointment, or mentally preparing myself for some temporary summer work I've got lined up for Thursday and Friday (I've been assigned the very prestigious role of dish washer at a local restaurant).  Oh, the joys of being a student over the summer!  

Ruby x

The Mid-Length Summer Dress

 

Dress - Zara / Denim Jacket - Wrangler / Belt and Bag - Vintage

Shoes - Topshop / Sunglasses - Primark

Oh hi! Yesterday we popped into town for the weekly car boot sale - if anyone else suffers from that bizarre Sunday syndrome where you feel all bored and hopeless and bleak, trust me, finding a good car boot sale is the remedy.  Car boot sales are fast-paced, viciously competitive, and obviously rewarding (you can tell by my triumphant face in these photos that this week was a good one for me)... I cannot recommend them enough for a sure-fire way to spice up your Sunday.  I will be doing a post soon on a few bits I picked up from there, so for now here is what I wore yesterday.

This dress is one of those you come across by chance, and believe me, I wasn't 100% sure when I saw it hanging on the rail, all on its lonesome in the random clearance section of Zara.  But I knew that chances like these didn't come often and that the dress had to be snapped up - so I bought it, got Mum to make a few seamstress-y adjustments and my love affair began.  The thing I love about Zara is the quality and feel of their clothing; this dress is so lightweight and feels like one big silky hug.  The blues in it also mean it goes with pretty much any denim jacket (a must for a Denim Queen), and worn with sandals and sunglasses you have the perfect Spring/Summer outfit.  Yahooo!

Ruby x

Shabby Bluesday and an Introduction

Why, hello there!  Tuesday in the South was one of those indecisive start of summer days, where the temperatures are just starting to creep into those golden twenties, but the threat of wind and rain is still prevalent.  These days always throw a cheeky spanner in the works (of my wardrobe).  Having spent my first year of university repeatedly telling myself 'I'm going to start a blog tomorrow' whilst at the uni bar with my head on the table and my hand clutching my 7th double gin and tonic, I'm hoping that since coming home for summer (and away from the 'bottle-of-wine-a-day-is-healthy' drinking culture) I will have a much better chance of actually beginning.  And what better day to begin than, well, what has now become a Saturday evening... damn those time management skills that have dropped off the face of the earth since handing in my assessments.

 

Jeans - Urban Outfitters Renewal / Sunglasses + Top - Primark / Shoes - F+F

Shirt + Bag - Vintage / Bralette - Urban Outfitters

I've recently been getting so much wear out of these slouchy boyfriend-fit jeans from the Urban Renewal section at UO.  They mark the epitome of shabby chic, which is all the rage for the practical minded lady who wants to be both comfy and stylish (I'm lying, I'm just a slob at heart). Plus, they really help solve the sweaty crotch in skinny jeans vs. chilly legs in skirt problem of the season - the denim is thick enough that you won't be cold, but at the same time, the fit means they don't sit too close to the skin and make you all hot and bothered.  Yay!

I also love a good sheer top with a bralette underneath as another way to avoid looking like a permanent resident of sweatsville - from what I can remember this white top from Primark only cost me around £4, an irresistible deal for a poor student with a love for what my boyfriend Josh would call 'see-through tops' (boys just don't understand).

 

 

 And so, having employed my little sister's limited photography skills, risked a bit of haphazard styling and then modelled in front of a rush-hour traffic roadside audience, I believe this marks the birth of my blog - Another Ruby Tuesday.  How exciting!!  Be sure to watch this space, I've got a long summer ahead... 

Ruby x