Beautiful wonderful Bicester Village

On Monday Mike and I took a day trip to Cadburys world: it was a chocoholics dream and absolutely no good for my diet, but a very fun day out! On our way home we passed through Bicester and after much nagging from me, stopped off to explore Bicester Village (well, it would be rude not to!)

Did you know that the top two search terms on this blog are "topshop outlet" and "outlet shopping"? I didn't even realise I wrote about those two things so often, but apparently my reputation preceeds me; I love outlets and bagging a bargain!And if it's outlet shopping you're looking for then Bicester won't let you down!!

Without meaning to sound like a bad advertorial, Bicester offers something for everyone, and the range of stores means you can pick something up whatever your budget. In French Connection there are tops starting from £6 and dresses starting from £10. I got a lovely black smock dress with a thick waistband for £14. So you can get something for under a tenner or blow hundreds of pounds in Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen or Gucci/Dior if you like the more "traditional" brands. And either way you'd be getting between 50 and 80% off!! There are over 150 stores so there's something for everyone; I especially loved the Cath Kidson store in all its floral glory; Mothers day is coming up!

I have written before about how much I love Luella, and in the Luella outlet I got two casual summer dresses that had been £300 for £49 each; that's pretty much Topshop prices. Yup, my shopping ban is officially failed and over. I've never bought anything from Luella before, and didn't want to miss my chance now the label is no more! There was another dress, a bag, and a pair of shoes I wanted, but I was being sensible; how I regret that now!! I also got a lovely black 100 silk dress from Monsoon with lovely beading and tassling at the neckline for under £25. All in all I spent less than £150 (including the price of a cup of tea) and had a great afternoon out!

I love Bicester village; its like an American outlet experience, set on a faux street with al fresco drinking and dining and its pretty compact so its easy to hop from one store to another (and then back again to ultimately purchase when your willpower fails you!) I wish i'd taken more picutres to show you guys, but I was so busy thinking about shopping that I forgot the think about the blog!! There were so many other things I wanted to buy; lets just hope that more nagging and the lure of the Superdry store means the bf will take me again soon!

Oh, and because I seem to always be thinking about weddings (my sister is getting married) its worth mentioning that they had a great selection of wedding and bridesmaids dresses in Monsoon at 70% off: bargain! Actually I think it would be a fun day out for any bride and bridesmaids - my sisters and I are planning to go with our mum to pick up some bits for the wedding and raid Jimmy Choo for wedding shoes: 70% off and an occassion to wear them! What more excuse do you need?!

Love, Tor xxx

I can't believe they invented it: Skeggings

When Johnathan Aston got in touch to ask if i'd like to try their new "Skegging" I responded (and this is a direct quote) that it sounded a bit ridiculous, but that I was prepared to give it a try.

Skegging is (of course!) an amalgamation of skirt and legging. (of course!) It was the next logical step (I use the word logical loosely) from the legging and jegging family. I grew up in a town called Skegness (Skeg for short) which added to the sense of the ridiculous I had about the whole thing.

However i'm writing this to say don't judge a book by its over. Or a product by its ridiculous name. Because I think I will be wearing my skeggings all summer long!

They are more like very thick footless tights than leggings (although I suppose the name sk-footless tight doesn't work) and they have a fitted body con type skirt attached in the same stretchy fabric.

Here I am showing off the skeggings. I didn't realise how dirty my mirror was until I took this shot!

The reason I love the skegging is thus: all of last summer long , I wore leggings with vests over the top (to cover my rump) and then pretty t shirts on top of the vest. Thats a lot of layers on a hot day! And the skegging negates a whole layer whilst still keeping you covered up. Why not just wear a skirt I hear you ask! Well, the fact that the legging/skirt aspects are attached to each other prevents the embarrassing riding up when you walk/falling down when you bend elements involved in wearing a body con skirt over slippy tights.

I've only tried them once, but found them to be a massive success. However, if weall start calling them skeggings, i'll never wear them again! So I am insisting on a mass boycott of the word skegging in favour of, erm, footless tights attached to a tight skirt, until a better name comes to mind.

What do you think of the idea? And what would you call them?

Love, Tor xx

Emma Hadley Jewellery will steal your heart

Hi Guys,

When I went to the A La Mode show last week there was the cutest little charm in the goodie bag; a teeny "busy bumble bee" that could either go around a necklace or on a charm bracelet. I found him enchanting, so I went to the Emma Hadley Jewellery website to have a nose around; mostly to see if I could find him a little animal friend and sit the two around my neck on a long silver chain.

I quite like the feather and the dragonfly

Silver jewellery is coming back, so i'm told, which is nice, because it means you can afford to invest in real silver (who can afford to buy real gold!?) meaning no more green fingers or allergic reactions around my neck!

This is my favourite piece of jewellery on the site; the hummingbird is still flying, and I think its rare to get a charm of this size thats still made of silver; I have one similar to this where the charm is perspex but the cost was still very similar (this is only £60) I'm wondering if I could add my bumble bee to his chain instead of buying another charm; I love his pensive face!

I don't usually wear small discrete pieces of jewellery, but since Mike brought me my bat skull necklace, I have been rediscovering its charms. Sometimes its nice to let your outfit do the talking and let the jewellery be the accent, or have your jewellery as a semi hidden secret people have to seek out to admire.

I'm not going to work today, which gives me far too much time to scour the internet looking at beautiful jewellery; something tells me this could be dangerous!

Love, Tor xxx

PS - I have to say that Emma Hadley Jewellery is charming. I thought of it earlier and couldn't slip it in, but it's too good a line to miss out on!!