Tag: Street Style

Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet

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Is it just me who looks for staple pieces they want in their wardrobe for years before actually finding what they want? Cut-off denim shorts, ripped skinny jeans, a boho playsuit….just to name a few! And I have now got all of them after raiding H&M and Primark a few months back. But my ‘Want List’ is a lot longer than that!

I’m at a point with my wardrobe where it needs a serious update. My lack of growth spurts means I haven’t actually grown out of many clothes from my teenage years. But turning 20 in July…it’s probably time I looked my age!

Cue Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet!

My favourite places to have shopped this year are Liverpool, London and Cheshire Oaks. The Pull & Bear shop and H&M in Liverpool are amazing! And don’t get me started on Appletree Boutique on Portobello Road in London! (Click HERE to read about my trip to London!)

Shopping in Liverpool and London are fairly recent, but I’ve always loved going to Cheshire Oaks. I’m obsessed with Nike high-tops so the Outlet store in Cheshire Oaks is the place I’ll go to get them.

But for this trip I wasn’t really planning on buying anything. That was before I realised the new Ralph Lauren store had opened…

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Exploring Ralph Lauren

I don’t know when my obsession with Ralph Lauren started. Probably from spending the majority of my childhood in Cheshire…it’s like a second home. But regardless, I wander round their newly-built store admiring the brightly coloured, clean-cut designs they’re known for.

From my trip to Appletree Boutique in London I picked up a flowery skater skirt which was pastel in colour. It was too pretty to leave behind, but I realised I haven’t got much to go with it. I had a pale pink chiffon vest top in mind which I managed to find wandering round RL and picked up the shirt above to try on too. Pink and green probably shouldn’t work together…but it does!

Now the price. I felt rather guilty paying £39.99 for a shirt. But then I thought how much I’d end up wearing it, which would probably be a lot! I’ve already got one shirt from RL and it still looks great after a few years. That’s what I mean by those staple pieces for my wardrobe. Things I’ll wear a lot and go with more than one thing in my wardrobe. Things that will last rather than only being ‘on-trend’ for a few months. Timeless pieces are always winners in my eyes.

Joules

Joules Jumper £34.95

Back to my Cheshire roots, Joules was a brand I was around a lot growing up. It’s a brand I remember my Aunty wearing a lot and I adore the vibrant fabrics they create their well-made pieces from. And a Joules jumper has been on my ‘Want List’ for a long time! The way it’s cut makes it extremely comfy and the fabric is soft to touch. Part of ‘maturing’ my wardrobe is going to be sorting through my countless amount of hoodies. This subtle design for a jumper is something I can’t wait to wear on trips to the beach for BBQ’s which I’m hoping to do this Summer. And come Autumn I’ll pair it with my spotty purple Joule’s ankle wellies walking my crazy chocolate Labrador.

Wandering round with Amy we soon ended up back where we started. Quite confused wondering how we got round so quickly. The benefit of going in the week when no school holidays are on I guess!

Some of the other shops we went into included the Yankee Candle shop and Whittard’s Tea. I’ve never been a big drinker of tea, but after getting hooked on Lemon Green Tea a few months back that’s starting to change.

On a table as you walk into the Whittard Tea shop is a display of their Cranberry & Raspberry, Turkish Apple and Dreamtime Tea. I was particularly drawn to the Dream Time tea as it contained Vanilla which I am a big fan of. You could try the other two teas which were both quite sweet to taste, but lovely all the same. After my mini shopping spree I decided I should make up a ‘Birthday List’. Not that I expect anything but it’s always awkward when you get asked what you would like for your birthday and you genuinely have no idea.

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Further into the shop you could also try their Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate flavours of Hot Chocolate. It was heavenly! The White Chocolate took me right back to being a child and eating Milky Bars. The image of the Milky Bar kid instantly popped into my head. Two more things to add to the ‘Birthday List’…

Looking around the Yankee Candle shop was just as fun. Some scents that stood out for me were Sahara Sands and Kilimanjaro Stars. The first one being fresh and a fairly light smell where as the latter had a bit of a stronger scent to it. I resisted from buying any though as I already have Yankee Candles which I received as Christmas presents to use!

All shopped out we headed to ‘Giraffe‘, which celebrates food from around the world. Not wanting anything too heavy on the stomach I went for a ‘Surf’s Up Sarnie’ whilst Amy went for the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla. The food there is so tasty! We also had smoothies and I’ll definitely be trying to re-mae the one I had. The ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ that consisted of pineapple, passion fruit, mango, banana and pomegranate juice. I will most certainly be going back to ‘Giraffe’ as the relaxed vibe there was perfect to have a long-awaited catch-up with Amy.

So considering I wasn’t planning on buying anything, I would say I had a pretty successful day. One step closer to that ‘Grown-Up’ wardrobe…ha!

 

London

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I’d only been in London 2 minutes and David Beckham walked past abandoning his Bentley on the side of one of the many busy roads in London. 


With a fashion sample sale to head to first that took up a lot of the day, but didn’t stop me stumbling across Portobello Road. A road I knew had some significance in London, but I was sure what. Walking along it I could see the attraction. Market stalls and every colour in the rainbow filling the street. And lovely people to match just trying to make their way in the world. The shops were like little hidden gems. Full of unique things I wouldn’t find back at home. Everything from edgy urban styling to the pastel coloured garments I love filling my wardrobe with. Appletree Boutique to be precise. 

After photographing Portobello Road from every possible angle it was time to head to Camden Town. A place I didn’t know much about, but was full of cultures from around the world. And people from around the world too. I rarely heard a British accent. Old London is one way I’d describe it. Aged bricks and mortar that was sky high made bright by the cultural items on sale. I didn’t buy much here but it was good to explore the place and fill the film on my Mum’s Canon EOS 500. 


Then we found ourselves in Regents Park, which sparked up a memory of some writing I did on my first trip to London. I was just sitting on one of the benches with my notebook and pen in hand. I’d always wanted to write, it just took me a few years to write anything worth reading. I even recognised which bench I was sat on as my shy teenage self. Dodgy haircut and fashion sense to match. 


The sun was setting and yet so many people were still out and about. Walking. Running. Socialising face to face and not through a screen. It’s kind of sad these days people spend more time talking via Facebook Messenger rather than face to face. Conversations with people when they’re right in front of you always have more meaning. Work to live and not live to work I suppose. Yes you might be tired after work, but can watching a television screen really have any comparison to seeing friends and family. Or even just being outside? 


There was still the rumble of traffic not to far away but it was still peaceful with the birds chirping away. And it was only at this point I heard numerous British accents. Which was quite odd really.

So London might seem an unsociable place to some, but it’s sparked up my thoughts into wanting to be a bit more sociable rather than keeping in touch by typing a message into my phone.