Black nights

 Leather Jacket- Warehouse//Top-River Island//

Leather Panel Leggings- Zara//Black Glitter Heels- Next

I had absolutely no intention of going out last night, but some last minute discussing with my friend meant an impromptu night out. Unfortunately I hadn't really packed anything to go out in so I wore the new trousers I got for Christmas, with this River Island top that I got in last years Boxing day sales for about a fiver! 

I had such a lovely Christmas  filled with family, friends and amazing food. Everything I love! Now to start revision and assignments and have my Christmas bubble well and truly burst! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas too.

Thanks to my little cousin for these pictures too! she was roped into it and I guess she'll make a fab little photographer some day!

Vogue Styling

You may or may not remember me posting this little snap on my last instagram post.

This semester in uni I did a module of styling and design, in which we had to arrange a magazine cover shoot. My group chose vogue for our magazine, and below is my final cover. I'm really happy with it and how it has turned out.

I also had to do a photoshoot for another module (I did it with my friend Jordan, check out her new blog here!), and I'll upload those in January sometime, when I'm back at uni and they're all handed in!

Going home on tuesday FINALLY! cannot wait. I shall fill you all in on my festive activities when they start.

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!

Happy 1st Birthday to Ditzy Daydreams!

Its hard to believe that I only started this blog a year ago. It seems like its been part of my life for much longer. I started out having no followers at all for about three months, and then in what seems like no time at all I have gained over 20 of you lovely lot! I have big plans for the blog in the future, and I just wanted to thank you all for reading and commenting on posts. Its really nice to know that a few people enjoy what I do, and it inspires to blog some more.

Thanks.

Here's to the next year!

Boohoo competition: #PartyPose

Boohoo are currently running a blogging competition called #PartyPose, in which you have to create your ideal party outfit from boohoo products for under £100.

This outfit is the items I chose. The dress is the Christa embellished dress (£35) and I love the simplicity of it, as well as the tutu style skirt! I also chose the Kate shoes (£45) and the Millie clutch (£18) as I think the black would offset the white dress perfectly, and make it a simple monochrome look.

The shoes are also available in a gorgeous Mint colour that I might just invest in!

The grand total of my outfit is: £98

Just in under budget! phew! If you want to enter, you can find all the details here. Good luck!

Christmas Gift Ideas.

So Christmas is almost upon us. The cold, frosty weather has set in, and the mad rush for Christmas shopping has arrived. I can't wait to go home and spend the run up to Christmas with my family. Here's a few ideas to help you along with the shopping. You could buy me any of these things for Christmas. I seriously love them all.

1. Ted Baker Makeup Brushes- £20.00 Boots
These are adorable. They come in their own little wrap, which is especially handy for me as I fly home when not at uni, and my makeup brushes tend to suffer. the set includes, Powder Brush, Eyebrow brush, Eye shadow brush, sponge applicator and lip brush. Such good value, and its on boots 3 for 2 offer.

2. Leather panel leggings - £25.99 Zara
These are a lot thicker than leggings and they're acceptable as trousers I think! My sister has a pair from Mango that I love, but we can't get the same ones, so I'll go with these instead.

3. Book Clutch - $325 Kate Spade
This is so nice! Pity about the excessive price tag though. I love a bit of Shakespeare and turning the books into colourful clutches is a genius idea. There are some cheaper alternative ones on the internet though.

4. Stone Ring - £14 Love Hearts and Crosses
I love chunky rings, in fact I have a whole bowl of them on my windowsill. They just transform outfits and make them a bit classier I think. This one is such an unusual style, and the mint green colour is lovely.

5.Miss Dior Perfume - £42 Debenhams
I love this perfume. It smells nice and the bottle is so cute!

6. The Sartorialist book -£13 Amazon
My favourite blog is now in book form! I love books that just look pretty when they aren't being read. Coffee table books and Fashion related books usually.

Vintage spots

Top-River Island//Skirt-Vintage//Shoes-Dune at Debenhams//Necklace-Argento

This is me in what my flatmate Chloe called "Typical Niamh Pose!" I wore this to uni yesterday, and it was not a good decision, it is very windy, and I spent most of the walk home holding my skirt down and my hair out of my eyes. Damn North-East Weather.

I've had this top for ages now, and I think this is the second time I've worn it. Slightly ashamed of that, but I rediscovered it a few days ago, and I decided I would either wear it or eBay it! The skirt is from Rokit on Brick Lane, and the necklace was a gift from my friend. 

My dip dye is really starting to wear out now, and I'm still in two minds of wheter I should redo it or not? I love it, but it has really dried out the ends of my hair, I'll more than likely end up caving in and getting it done again though.

OOTD: Nude Stripes

Top-Internacionale//Skirt-H&M//Bag-Primark//Shoes-Topshop

I wore this out on Monday night for a friends Birthday. I saw the skirt in H&M and I had to have it, and it was a bargain so I could just about afford to! The top is last season, and I got it for my birthday, but they just matched so well, that I didn't know what else to match the skirt with.

At the moment, life is just one long assignment. its the only thing I seem to do these days. I am counting down the days until Christmas as well, by the time it comes round I won't have been home in four months, and I've never been away from home that length yet. I'm very excited!

Style inspiration: Angela Scanlon

I'm one of those people who could quite happily spend their life sitting on Google  with a cup of tea looking at pictures of people who inspire me. Angela Scanlon is a big inspiration to me style-wise, and i'll admit I had never heard of her until very recently, but now I'm a little (Not creepily) obsessed with her. I just love how laid back her style is, and how she manages to look so effortlessly put together all the time. I hate wearing jeans, because I always feel I look scruffy, but she manages to look so dressed up while wearing them, I am jealous!

I also love how much her personality seems to shine through in pictures and in her blog posts, she seems exactly like the kind of girl I'd love to be friends with, (and shes Irish so that makes her amazing obviously!)

I've spent the last three hours watching her on old Xposé videos. (I need to get back to Ireland to watch that  again soon!) and now I'm massively coveting her hair colour! Can I just be her?

All images sourced from google.

Galaxy Print

Dress- Missguided

Necklace- New Look

So this week was Reading week, and instead of going home I decided to head to Glasgow for a few days to visit my friend as she has just started uni there. This is what I wore when we went out last night. I wasn't going to post an outfit pic, but quite a few people were asking me where the dress was from so  I thought I'd put it on here with a link.

I got this at freshers week this year, so I didn't think it would still be there but it is, also, I borrowed the necklace from my friend, but now I really want one! 

My interview with Katrina Doran

Katrina Doran says herself that she has Fashion in her blood: “I’ve always wanted a career in it, and my uncle owned a factory in the 60’s and 70’s that made Burberry’s iconic trench coats,” she tells, “My mum and aunts all worked there on the elite sewing team.” This set her up nicely towards her future successful career as a stylist, and creative director of sugahfix.com. 

Sugahfix is a Northern Ireland based fashion and beauty website, single-handedly set up by Katrina. It was set up in order to address the gap in the market that she thought was so glaringly obvious: “I love fashion magazines, but up until a few years ago, many brands featured in the major magazines were very London-centric and not available in Northern Ireland. Some of the local magazines buying in their fashion shoots from London so they were still featuring designers and brands that were only available in the mainland.”  

For someone that loves fashion it was understandably frustrating that there were no fashion magazines exclusive to Northern Ireland, but there were other reasons for this: “I always worked in fashion and beauty marketing, and trying to target women here is very difficult unless you have a budget for TV advertising.” 

Katrina’s career path to fashion didn’t start out by her studying fashion, so she had quite a roundabout way into the industry. She chose to study Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast: “I absolutely loved it. But I never stopped ‘studying’ fashion as I lived on toast for a week as I’d spent my weeks budget on Vogue and Elle, But it was money well spent!” 

Although she never officially studied fashion, the ambition has always been there, she grew up surrounded by those strong family influences, and her mother passed her sewing skills on to her from a young age: “I used to draw a sketch of what I wanted and then we’d go and pick the fabric and make the clothes together. I was sewing since I was allowed a needle and thread.” But the designing of clothes wasn’t the career that spoke to her the most: “I was given my first copy of vogue when I was 10 and although I had no idea then what a stylist was or that I could be a fashion writer, I knew I wanted to be that person that came up with the ideas for the photoshoots.” and so Sugahfix was born. 

While Katrina is confident, she is definitely not a typical representation of a woman working in fashion. She set up FABB, a network for Northern Ireland based fashion bloggers, so that they could help each other out and attend events together, but mainly so that she could make friends with people who were doing the same thing as she was: “I was thrilled to find other fashion and beauty bloggers in Northern Ireland as it can be quite a lonely business, especially working from home. I think it started out with 10 or 12 at the time and thought there might be 20 altogether, but now there are 32 members, it’s amazing!”  

This desire to make connections and friends within the industry makes her stand out from the usual industry professionals. She has become a well-respected figure in the local fashion industry and gets invited to all the major events. But she constantly tries to help new faces in fashion.  

So although she has already worked up to big things, Katrina has recently started to expand her website, and she recently started hiring new members of staff, so it seems the future can only get better for her.

Katrina’s Top tips for aspiring fashionistas. 

• I get contacted by girls who say they love fashion and would like to shadow me to see if they’d like to be a stylist, but No-one can teach you to be a stylist – it is everything you’ve absorbed over the years that informs how you put an outfit together or how you come up with a theme or concept for a photo shoot.  
• Everyone loves fashion – but enjoying going shopping or wearing fabulous clothes is not the same as really knowing fashion. 
• For fashion writers, the history of fashion is so important, as you need to be able to spot historical references in the current designer collections so you can write about them in an informed way.  
• To be able to describe a garment you need to understand the technical elements from the cut to the fabric. So make things – the reason I know what a raglan sleeve is or the difference between a gored skirt and a flared skirt is because I’ve made them! 
• You never stop learning in Fashion, every season there are new collections and new designers and you need to study the international catwalks so you can understand how things filter down to the high street.

Weekly Wishlist #5

This weeks wishlist is Christmas themed! Everyone loves a good Christmas jumper, so there's one out there for you no matter what your style is.

1. Fair Isle Jumper £30 ASOS
I like the colour palette in this jumper, and I love the fit of it as well.

2. Cable Knit Jumper £12.99 H&M
I already own this in the Coral shade, but it is so comfortable that I'm considering it in a different colour. My favourite is the Mint one.

3. Reindeer Jumper £20 Boohoo
This is the start of the novelty jumpers coming through, and I like the simplicity of this one. There's nothing worse than a red and green colour scheme on a Christmas Jumper!

4.Holly Jumper £50 Topshop
This is my absolute favourite on the list, but I really hate the price! Damn Topshop and their overly expensive pricing!

5. Fair Isle £36 H! by Henry Holland
Another Fair Isle one, but I really love that pattern, and this one is in a warmer colour scheme!

London Calling!

So as I mentioned previously, I spent the weekend in London, first attending a fashion Journalism workshop, but then meeting up with my sister who lives there and spending a few days with her.

Friday night consisted mainly of eating junk food, while watching the Help, which is SUCH a cute film, and getting an early night before our busy day on Saturday!

On Saturday we headed for the V&A museum, to see the costume exhibition that they have on at the moment. It is such an interesting exhibition, with many timeless and classic pieces as well as pieces from recent films, (Including Twilight which we found a bit strange) and each piece has quotes from the director, the designer or the actor who wore it. There are also video interviews with many of the designers and really good bits of information that I never realised. I unfortunately have no photos as the V&A don't allow photos, not good for bloggers! But I fully recommend the exhibit, and you still have plenty of time to go, it runs until the 27th January. Also Student tickets are only £9 and I think they are totally worth the money just to see Audrey Hepburn's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' dress up close.

Before heading to the exhibition we went for a little wander down the street, took a look at all the gorgeous houses in Kensington, and discovered the cutest bakery ever. It was decorated like a french Patisserie, and it had the most amazing hot chocolate I've ever had. It was better than Starbucks and if I lived in London I would need to have it everyday!

Enjoying the best hot chocolates ever!

After the exhibit we headed towards Harrods! and on the way passed my favourite shop ever which I had to resist even going into!

 

After a spot of shopping we went for dinner in Sloane square (We really really want to be posh London socialites!) and then we headed back towards Victoria to go and see a musical.

My sister works at St. James' theatre and at the moment there is a new musical playing called 'Daddy Long Legs,' which she hadn't seen yet, so we decided that we would go together. I loved it. It only has two cast members and it really is such a romantic story, I cannot recommend it enough. Afterwards we had a glass of wine, and headed home, and then just spent Sunday in bed watching films, before I had to be put back on the train to Sunderland Kicking and Screaming. 

I cannot wait to live in London!

London Fashion Journalism Masterclass

I have just returned from an amazing weekend in London, as I went down with uni to attend a fashion journalism masterclass. The talk took place in the University of Sunderland's London Campus at Canary Wharf, and we all set off from Sunderland VERY early on the train on Friday morning.

The masterclass featured talks from four top journalists:
Rachel Richardson, editor of fabulous magazine,
Hattie Crisell, a freelance Journalist,
Hannah Almassi, Deputy Fashion News and Features Editor at Grazia,
Louise Gannon, a showbiz Journalist.

These four Journalists are all very hard, working, ambitious women, and they gave us a fantastic view into what our futures as fashion Journalists will hopefully look like! They shared with us their tips on getting a foot in the door, and on working in the industry in general, and so I thought I'd share the best bits of advice I gained from the day.

Get Experience.
At this, and indeed other talks I've attended, the emphasis was on getting as much experience as possible, but we were also told to get as much out of the experience as possible while there, so basically be polite to everyone, and go above and beyond what you are supposed to do, because if an opportunity comes up they might remember you and working really hard for free will be worth it in the end!

Prepare yourself for rejection.
We all know that its the sad case at the moment that we will face rejection no matter what line of work we choose to follow, but in journalism, rejection will come even after you've got a job. You may not be chosen to do a really good interview, or a piece you have written may be cut, but the advice we were given on Friday was not to "be precious about it." This will be no indication of your ability or your work, and there may be several different reasons behind the decisions.

Look the part.
Do not turn up looking scruffy. As Rachel told us, "you are a representation of the brand" and if the brand is Fashion then you will have to look like you have made an effort. 

Learn your trade.
All four of the girls agreed that it is important to know which writers you admire and know their work well. Read around your subject, but also don't focus solely on it, but be aware of current affairs, finance and other areas, that could be the angle or idea for a feature or story.

Inspiration comes from everywhere.
As previously mentioned, reading around the subject can inspire you, but this can come from anywhere, Magazines, Blogs, books or Newspapers, and inspiration can also be something as simple as things you and your friends are discussing amongst yourselves, or that you all feel is a pressing issue. I f you do come up with a good feature or story pitch it now, even if you are still a student, if it is a good idea and it is well written it may just get published.

And a few final tips:
Everyone you know is a contact, use them well.
Be yourself.
Don't feel you need to know everything all the time.
Keep your social footprint clean. Be careful what you post on Facebook and Twitter.


Thanks to the four speakers and to the University for arranging the masterclass it was inspiring and so helpful, and it meant I got to spend an amazing weekend in London with my sister, (more on that later) so now I just need to get my degree and get a job. All these essays will be worth it in the end

Instagram Pictures #4

Last night of Summer with my bestie/ Leaving Home again/ My view from the boat/ First night of freshers/ Decorating the walls of my new room/ Finally getting a full GFC box/ Diet coke and Lime so good!/ Cutest earphones ever/ Cute collage my sister made me/ extreme multitasking/ Wise words/ My flatmates awesome pumpkin/ My halloween costume/ A cat and a dead doll/ Fashion Shoot for uni.

Wow, its been a while since I last did one of these, mainly due to the fact that I killed my iPhone over summer and therefore had no Instagram use. Sad times. Hope you all had a fun Halloween. I have to admit, it isn't my favourite holiday, in fact I pretty much hate it, but its an excuse to go out! Going to London tomorrow for uni and then spending the weekend with my sister. Its been a while since I've seen her, so it should be fun.

Weekly Wishlist #4

This is a small one this week, because there is literally nothing I want. (fashion related anyway!)

1. Vogue Iphone case - £21 society6
I love browsing society6, and I constantly fall in love with phone cases on it! this is so cute, being black and white, and featuring vogue of course! I think its £21 as its listed as $35 on the website and I just converted it on google!

2. Cutout back dress - £24.50 Awear
I think this is so cute, but I probably shouldn't buy it, because its basically a carbon copy of every dress in my wardrobe, girly, floaty and totally adorable. It is in the sale though, so if the student budget can stretch then I might be persuaded.

3. Baroque dress - £35 Boohoo
I have saved the best until last, baroque is so in, and I think its so luxurious looking. The studded collar on this just adds to the appeal!

Review: How to be a Woman

I love books, I always have, when I was little I remember my mum taking me to Waterstone's when they'd have a 3 for 2 on, and I'd have read all three of those books by the next day! I read every Harry Potter book in about two days as well, but as I got older and my life got busier, I honestly had so little time to read, and this really upset me.

While in 6th form, not only was I doing my A levels but I had a part-time job and did some volunteering so I really had no time to enjoy a good book, and the last year has been so hectic as I was just starting out at uni and finding my feet. But I swore I'd get back into reading as much as possible, and I started with a book I had been looking to read for ages, Caitlin Moran's, 'How to be a Woman'.

I have always considered myself a feminist, (and frequently enjoy having a rant about it) and I love a good autobiography, so I had been told by a few people that this was right up my street, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I was worried that it may be a little reminiscent of my sociology days (which I didn't enjoy!) but it is funny, honest and covers every topic I believe needs to be discussed.

There are so many issues raised in this book, that I believe need to be addressed for young women. I am fortunate to have a mother and a circle of friends who discuss everything pretty openly, but as a society we are very bad at discussing what matters. While reading it, I did think to myself that although I've always believed in equal rights, I don't think I am a feminist, I just think that everyone should be granted the same privileges and rights as everyone else, whether they are a woman or man, no matter what age, and no matter what their background. I was raised to believe this was the case, and I hope everyone else will start teaching their children this soon, as there are still so many ignorant people in this world.

In it there are touchy areas that she covers, but yet, she does it with such humor, that at times I really wondered why I hadn't thought like that before, and that her point was so Obvious!

This book is so funny, that at times I forgot I was reading about feminism, and I wish I had read it in 6th form so maybe I would've had more interesting things to base my sociological arguments on in exams! Although there were many fantastic points made throughout the entire book, one quote really sticks with me, even three days after finishing: "Feminism is 'Everyone being polite to each other.'"

I think this is a mantra we should all follow. Can't wait to read her second book now!

Weekly Wishlist #3

Time for another weekly Wishlist! just a quick one this week before I crack on with some uni work.

1. Berry Dress - £75 ASOS
I fell in love with this dress the second I saw it on ASOS. It is the perfect colour, and the collar and sleeves are gorgeous, it looks like the perfect dress for a Christmas party.

2. Tapestry Skirt - £18 River Island
This is one of those items that you feel you should hate, but secretly you love it, it looks like cushions my granny used to have on her sofa, but I think its gorgeous for A/W, and perfectly priced for a student budget.

3. Brocade Skirt - £45 Miss Selfridge
Another skirt in the same post, but I love a nice skirt in the winter. this is such an unusual colour, and I love the cutout detailing around the bottom.

4. Glitter Heels - £55 Topshop
These shoes are AMAZING. I need them. now. if anyone is wondering what to buy me for Christmas  these are what I want.

Leather loving (all over again.)

I love a bit of leather, and apparently the whole of fashion does too at the moment because it is a massive trend. I have a few leather pieces in my own wardrobe, One leather jacket I adore, a leather skater dress and a black dress with leather panelling.

I remember being about 11 years old when leather was a big thing on the high street before, and my older sister and I begged for new clothes for Christmas when our aunty bought me a gorgeous leather skirt, which I still remember I loved more because it had hot pink lining! And my sister got a pair of leather trousers. I remember her wearing those a LOT, and now that its back in style I'm certainly loving it all over again, so I have gone through the high street and designer websites and found my key pieces that I think every girl should have in her wardrobe this season.

1. Peplum Dress - £29.99 H&M
I've said it before and I'll say it again, probably about 100 times, I love peplums. This dress grabs two huge trends and puts them together, and its under £30. Whats not to love?

2. Leather Biker trousers - £295 All Saints
Okay so these come with a pretty hefty price tag, but they are gorgeous, and the fit is really flattering. Although its hard to tell they're also a really nice plum shade so they are an upgrade on all the black leather. I honestly think they are an investment piece, and totally worth the price tag.

3. Contrast Mac - £85 River Island
Macs are the sort of coat that come in every year and are completely timeless, but sometime they can look so boring, because they've all been done before. This one however has a nice little upgrade on the leather sleeves, making it anything but boring, and yet the colour still makes it neutral and classic.

4. Red and Black top- £16.99 SheInside.com
Yes I know, another peplum, but this is such a nice top with the contrasting colours and the sheer sleeves, its really unusual, and within probably every ones budget. I hadn't ever heard of this website before I went looking for leather pieces, but its a really nice site with a few cute pieces.

5. Black Bag- £95 Topshop
No girls wardrobe is complete without a classic black bag, and this one from topshop is no exception. Its real leather so that's a bonus and I really like the subtle detailing.

Weekly Wishlist #2

Well, that week went by very quickly! I lost track of time and didn't post at all! apologies for that, and hello to all my new followers I believe I've gained three of you since I was last here.

1. Warehouse Dress - £55
There is nothing I don't love about this dress, I love the Colour and the pattern, but I definitely am in love with the shape, as I just think it would be flattering on pretty much everyone.

2. Topshop Holdall -£42
I think this is such a unique bag, and I honestly don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. I might treat myself to it so I can use it for trips home, having nice luggage really helps me deal with stressful airports.

3. Topshop Top -£40
This is a bit different from the things I usually buy, but I like the embellishment on this top and I just think it would really well with a nice pair of skinny Jeans and my favourite Zara Blazer.

4. Leather Skirt - Various prices
This leather skirt is from ebay, and I love leather skirts at the moment, but what I love most about this one is the simple studded waistband and also the lovely shape. And of course, Black goes with everything, right?