Summer Haul | New Look, Primark & H&M

So. I promised myself that I would not go shopping until late August.  I'm trying to save the pennies for a rainy day and just recently I haven't exactly been to kind to the purse strings. However, that little promise to myself flew well and truly out of the window when I decided one morning last week to have an innocent little mooch around town.  5 hours and 2 achy feet later and I found myself back in my hallway, a little dishevelled, surrounded by an array of shopping bags.  Oops.  When I was on holiday, I spent a great deal of time sat on a sun lounger, pouring over magazines and reading blogs on my iPhone.  Of course, this is never a good move when you're trying to be kind to the ole' bank balance is it? I practically burst out of the aeroplane doors, brimming with new outfit ideas and a shopping list as long as my arm. Here's the results of my naughty little shopping mission...

First things first - welcome to my back garden! Wheyheyhey! The sun was out in force, it felt like I was melting and the last thing I fancied doing was manoeuvring myself around my house attempting to get good photographs of clothes. The garden seemed a very appealing place to take some blog photographs - much to the fascination of my neighbours - never before has a washing line and a rockery been so handy!  One of my favourite purchases is this gorgeous office bag from H&M.  A while back, I treated myself to the ever-popular Zara Office City Bag in Tan, and it's been glued to my arm ever since.  As soon as I saw this black tote bag in H&M I dashed up to the shelf to grab it.  It was love at first sight.  It has the exact same finish to it that the Zara bag has, and is pretty much the same size, just without all of the sections.  As much as I love my Zara version, I figured that a black one would come in very handy for when autumn/winter roll around - the style is so classic and simple.  For £24.99 it's so worth the money and I cannot wait to wear this to uni with my blazers and midi skirts - very 'office chic'.  Of course, a trip to the shops is never complete without a scout around jewellery sections, and I picked up these two necklaces before I went away on holiday to go with various outfits.

It was my lucky day, as when I walked into New Look I discovered it was the first morning of their sale. Fat kid in sweet shop comes to mind... I spent ages trawling through the rails, and grabbed some lovely things (everything above from New Look wasn't anymore than £9!) I bought the white cropped jumper to wear with my maxi skirts when it's a little chillier, or to sling over my summer dresses and skirts. It's one of those lovely loose fitting ones that are so easy to style - I almost spent £36 on one in Topshop so I was really chuffed to find this one! Next I picked up the dungaree skater dress.  As much as I love the denim dungarees that seem to be everywhere right now, I've never seen them as quite 'my thing' - so when I saw this pretty little skater dress/pinafore I snapped it up.  It's a girly little nod to the trend and I will be wearing this over my cropped tshirts throughout the summer - I adore anything with daisys on it! I've also been after a black midi skirt for what seems like forever now!  I'm quite petite and struggle to find midi skirts that actually fit me and flatter my pint-sized little frame. This one is just the right length - finishing at the knee rather than a few inches below it - so it doesn't make me look like a hobbit and yet still looks classy.  

Primark have really been banging out the summer skirts this year! I stocked up on some lovely midi/pencil skirts before I went to London last month, and went in there with the purpose of finding some more maxi skirts for my wardrobe.  It occurred to me on holiday that I only have 2 maxi skirts - both of which are quite dressy, and I wanted something a little more casual for the daytime.  The spotted skirt is one of my favourite buys - I'm in love with anything polka-dot at the moment, so I rushed over to pick this up before anyone else got their mitts on it!  I will most definitely be wearing this with the New Look cropped jumper when the weather cools down a little - with a little flowery headband I think it will be the perfect outfit!  The black tube maxi is another lovely skirt for the daytime.  It has a split up one side but only to the knee so it's perfect for the daytime and more casual wear - it's a very versatile little piece to have in my wardrobe.  Last year, Primark bought out some lovely little summer dresses in a variety of colours and I got so much wear out of them on holiday.  When I spotted they had a similar version in green this year I snapped it up.  They're perfect for wearing over bikinis on the beach as you can whip them on and off really quickly! The colour is just so beautiful - the camera doesn't pick it up as well but it really is the most intense green - I can imagine it will look amazing with the tan I'm sporting right now!  And last but not least, I picked up this aztec pencil skirt from H&M.  It's not long enough to be a midi but it hits just above/at the knee - it looks really flattering on and the pattern is really on trend this season.  Again, it's such a versatile piece and I can see this lasting me well into winter.  You can never be without a little pencil skirt in your wardrobe!

And so there we have it. A little haul for you to sink your teeth into ;) I really don't have an ounce of willpower whatsoever, but I'm so pleased with what I managed to pick up.  I left the shops feeling rather chuffed with myself to say the least - a dose of shopping really does help to take post-holiday blues away, doesn't it?

What have you found in the summer sales this year? Any of these things float your boat?

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