Work Wear/Office Haul

If someone had of told me 6 months ago that I would be writing this sort of post I would fast tell them to shut up. I am so excited to write this post and it would have been up sooner, but due to being bust it’s a tad behind (3 days to be exact…).

I recently went on a mini shopping spree to grab some essential pieces for my new job (which you can read all about here!) and I’m so pleased with what I managed to get.

The three places I shopped at were Primark, New Look and Peacocks, most of my purchases were from Primark. I’m also including a few older pieces in here that I’ll be wearing for my new job too. 1. Because the wonderful Vikki over at Cuteek wanted to see one of the dresses and 2. I didn’t pick up any dresses for my new job (yet) so I thought I’d show what ones I have for it at the moment. I also didn’t pick up any shoes so I’ll be showing off two pairs I already own. AND I have a shirt I picked up from M&S just before my holiday that I want to show off too, as it’s one of the best shirts I’ve ever owned.

I also have a cardigan I’ve ordered but as that hasn’t arrived yet, I’ll be using a stock photo.

As well as showing off what items I bought, where from and prices I’ll also be showing off how I’ll style pieces together.

Let’s get on with the haul!

• Primark Supersoft Jumper in the colours cream, mustard yellow, red and dark grey – £6.00 each.

I love, love, LOVE these jumpers so damn much! I picked the mustard yellow one up nearly a month ago and have worn it quite a bit since then. I haven’t yet worn it for work, but I’ve teamed this up outside of work with my denim shorts, as well as black skinny fit jeans. I wore the red one for work on my first day with the black skater skirt I picked up from New Look and it looked lovely. These jumpers are so damn comfortable and don’t feel tight. If anything they feel slightly baggy on the sleeves, which I love as I have shy hands and love to cover them up. I especially love the button detailing on the shoulders. These are available in a wide range of colours! If there were certain colours I really wanted them they were cobalt blue, burgundy and dark green.

• Primark Red, black and white Floral Shirt – £7.00.

I didn’t have many high hopes for this shirt when I took it to the changing rooms to try on, but it actually really surprised me and I knew straight away that I would be buying it. That and £7?! BARGAIN! It’s a gorgeous vintage looking shirt and one I have tried on with both trousers and skirt and looks amazing with both. The only issue I had with it when tucking it into the skirt was that it left a bit of a bulge underneath my bust, which made me look fat/pregnant. When I tried this on and didn’t tuck it in it didn’t show off my bust through the buttons etc, but when I tucked it into the skirt it did just this, as well as the bulge, so I can see this being worn mostly with trousers. With one pair that I bought (houndstooth print) they look very vintage together, which I really like. They did have another shirt for £7.00, which was white and navy vertical stripes with pink/red roses on. I was half tempted to pick it up, but decided not to as it wasn’t really my sort of thing.

• New Look Black Mini Skater Skirt – £12.99 (link)

I was looking everywhere for a black skater skirt for work as I used to own one from Topshop many moons ago, but due to washing it so much it’s kind of shrunk and it definitely isn’t something I wanted to wear around the office due to that. The member of staff in the New Look store I visited was so lovely. Even though they only had 2 skirts on the shop floor (neither in my size!) she still had a look on the system for me to see if they had anymore in the back in my size, they had 1 left! I was chuffed and tried it on with some of the pieces I picked up from Primark. I wore this skirt on my first day with my red Primark jumper and I felt so comfortable and confident! My only issue with it is it feels a tad short for my linking, but I think I was wearing it too high at the same time. I intend to wear this skirt loads at my new job and when I get paid and have some spare cash I want to pick up another one. I can’t wait to wear my skirts with this, as well as my mustard yellow and cream jumper!

• New Look Black Check Tapered Trousers – £19.99 (link)

I knew that I wanted some trousers like this for the job as soon as I found out I got it. I’ve always wanted a pair like this but have never been a job where I could wear them until now. I decided to try these ones on as they have an elasticated waist band, a bloated girl on her period DREAM PAIR OF TROUSERS! These are high-waisted, which I didn’t know until I got home and had a look on the New Look website to show someone. I’ll definitely wear these both normal and high-waisted with shirts, t-shirts and jumpers. I doubt I’d wear socks with them and would just wear my flats. I am anxious to wear these as I worry they’ll look daft, but whatever, you only live once and THEY’RE ELASTICATED!

• Peacocks Womens Bistretch Bootcut Trousers – £9.00 (currently £7.20 online only) (link)

Since back in the day when I worked at Costa I have always sworn by Peacocks smart trousers for work. They’re comfortable, come in all sorts of sizes and styles and are affordable! I paid the normal £9.00 price for these as I picked them up in store and I ended up getting my usual long leg, as well as a regular leg. I tried on my size and although they felt fine, I actually went for a size up so that they were a little baggy. I’ve had to deal with nearly 2 years of uncomfortable (but tolerable) smart trousers and I don’t want to anymore if I can help it! I’ll wear these with all sorts to be honest!

Image taken from http://www.emp.co.uk

• EMP Yuri!!! On Ice Logo Cardigan – £41.99 (Currently reduced to £24.99) (link)

This is a cardigan that I’ve been eyeing up for ages and I don’t know why but I nearly paid the full price for it! I think I had a 10% voucher available to use alongside it, BUT I’m so glad I waited. This recently went into the sale and as well as that EMP brought out an extra 15% code so I saved an extra £3.00 something! I loved Yuri!!! On Ice when it came out and me and my best friend both love it. She’s also ordered this cardigan so we can be twinsies. 😛 I’ll probably feel odd and out of place wearing this in the office, but I don’t care! I’d team it up with trousers or skirt and a white top (long or short sleeved). To be honest, I’d soon snuggle up in this at home too.

• H! By Henry Holland Fox Dress – (previously spoken about here).

I LOVE this dress and it’s actually the dress I wore for my interview for the job. I decided to go for this as I love foxes and felt it would leave a lasting impression with the company, which it obviously did! This is the dress that Vikki over at Cuteek wanted to see! It’s a gorgeous black skater dress with foxes all over. It’s one I always reach for for special nights out, birthdays and now for office wear! I want another dress like this but I can’t seem to find one anywhere. 😦

• Daisy Dress (So old that I can’t remember where it’s from 100%).

I’ve owned this dress for years and I mean years! It’s been so long that the shop I originally bought it from a clothing store that went into administration… I think it was called Republic… Either way this dress has always been one I’ve gone back to time and time again and I’m pretty sure it’ll be worn to death at my new job as well!

So that’s my haul of what goodies I’ve picked up for my new job! I hope to pick up some more stuff in the future as there’s loads more bits and pieces I wish to pick up.

I’ll be doing a wish list post next week of more stuff I would like to get in future, both clothing and office stationary items I’d love to have on my future desk.

If you work in an office where do you shop for your clothes? Make sure to let me know in the comments as I would love more places to find new pieces at!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far.

A Belated Birthday Money Haul

I mentioned in a post recently about how I’d received a Debenhams gift card (post here) from my brother for my birthday, as well as some birthday money from family… But that I hadn’t spent it yet.

Well after a crap week, a trip to A&E, and some resting in bed, I decided if I was feeling up to it I would take a trip to town with my boyfriend and do some much needed therapy shopping… and eating.

It’s not technically something I bought with birthday money, but I wanted to give the item, and my friend a mention. My friend Claire (over at All Mouth, No Spoons) offered to sell her Jeffree Star liquid lipstick in Unicorn Blood to me earlier on this week, and when she said for £10, I jumped at it straight away! She knows how much I love Jeffree Star’s lipsticks, and bless her she knows my skin tone well and that it would suit. It was nice to have a natter with her for a while when I went round to her house to buy it. I’m sure I’ll be meeting up with her soon, and doing some collaborative posts in the future!

Our first stop of for the day was to Yakinori, a noodle, bento, and sushi restaurant. There are two in Birmingham, one in Grand Central, and one in Selly Oak by Birmingham University. I have to say hands down it is some of the best katsu curry I have ever had, and let me tell you I’ve tried a lot from various Japanese restaurants… So I’m kind of a pro now at this taster stuff. Joke. 😛 It really did set us up though for the day, and we didn’t feel hungry at all after that. We intended to get some more sushi from there on our way home, but that never happened.

So we went into town to do some shopping, parking was a pain but it wasn’t SO bad and town was actually quieter than we originally thought it was going to be, due to people being paid and such. It was good though, nice and quiet just how we like it.

Our first place to go shopping was Nostalgia Comics. It’s my favourite place to go if I want to do some much needed geeky shopping. They stock comic books, manga, Pop Vinyl’s, various figures, I could go on. You get the gist of it by now, they stock a lot of nerdy stuff. We went in to get some comic books and manga. My boyfriend was on the hunt for more Deadpool comics, and I wanted to try and get some new manga to read. My boyfriend kindly offered to buy me some manga, my choice being the Sword Art Online Progressive series, which started not long ago. Nostalgia do a 3 for 2 offer on most manga, and these were on the deal too. They weren’t cheap in my mind at £9.99 each, but meh. They’ll keep me happy for a while!

I loved Nostalgia Comics anyway, but after yesterday I love them even more. When my boyfriend purchased his goodies, the woman serving us put some free Deadpool goodies in too! She gave him a beanie, a sleeping mask, and a badge. I said, “Oh wow I’d love the beanie!” To which my boyfriend replied, “No I bagsied it!” I said aww and obviously looked sad, so the woman asked if I wanted a hat too! I said yes of course, and only when I had a nose at the hats a while later did I realise she gave me a full set of goodies too. What a legend! The beanie hat is so damn comfortable and baggy, it’s definitely going to be worn to death.

Next stop was Debenhams, where I decided I would either use the whole £50 on my gift card, or just half of it. I ended using all of it! On things I really wanted mind. The first thing I picked up is this adorable fox dress by H! by Henry Holland. I LOVE foxes so I couldn’t pass picking this up. I went and tried it on, and it was just perfect. The fit, the length, and especially the print. It has a nice little cut out above the boobs as well, which is a nice change. For £28 I thought this was a bargain, and that’s full price. I’ll wear this loads throughout the year.

As well as that I picked up a new product by Benefit, the POREfessional: matte rescue. I can’t wait to try it, and have had my eye on it since it releasing in America a while ago. I’ve heard nothing but positives about it too, especially for people who have oily skin. I have an oily t-zone (which I HATE!) and whilst the POREfessional does help it, it doesn’t help it all day. This wasn’t cheap at £21.50 but to be honest, it’s a huge tube and a little bit does go a very long way, so I don’t mind spending that much. I’ll be writing a review on this in the future. The woman who served me at the Benefit counter was amazing too, she gave me a couple of free samples, which I can’t wait to try!

Finally I made a stop off at Victoria’s Secret, the shop I mainly wanted to go to town for. Since my friend Poppy introducing me to the store back in December 2014, I have loved their bras. It is like my boobs are on air, and they’re loving it! However, my first bra from there is damaged, two more I bought aren’t the right fit for me, and a duplicate/replacement I bought of the first one is just wearing away from overuse (oh dear…), so I decided it was time to buy a couple of new ones. I’m so glad I did! I always get my bras from upstairs in the PINK section, but this time I opted to try the Victoria’s Secret section downstairs, and I’m really glad I did. I picked up a gorgeous red bra that I liked the look of and waddled to the changing room to try it on. I asked Gemma, the girl who served me if I could try it on and be measured as I was concerned that I may have gone down a bra size. She said yes, not a problem and helped. She said I was still the same size, and that the bra I had picked up fitted perfectly. To be honest, I felt pretty damn good in the bra I picked up, and I loved it so much I picked up another one but in a nude shade. I can’t wait to wear them next week now. I’ve missed having a comfortable bra! The only problem with VS though, is the price… These made me want to cry when they came to £77.50… But meh they last quite a long time, and they feel comfortable, so to me it’s worth every penny.

So that was everything I picked up from town with my birthday money! I have bought some little bits and pieces up this month, but I’ll feature those in a separate post me thinks. I really need to stop buying things now. 😛

Have you picked up any nice goodies after pay day on Friday? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve had a great weekend.