Fashion - Wardrobe Essential: The Blue Shirt

Just like a LBD, black tailored trousers, perfectly fitting jeans and a breton stripe, a classic blue button down cotton shirt should be part of every woman's capsule wardrobe.  They work brilliantly for the office tucked into tailored trousers or for evening worn with leather pants, a crystal earring and some strappy high heels. You can even pair the shirt with jeans, black, blue or white, styled with a rolled sleeve and trainers for the weekend. It's such a versatile and hard working wardrobe item. 

While I own a classic style from J Crew that I wear frequently, I recently found this blue shirt with a design twist from Zara. I love the cropped side waist detail coupled with the long front and back that at first glance could be mistaken for a shirt dress. Plus it's an incredible price point.

Shirt £22.99 Zara BUY HERE

Here are a few other blue shirts with a twist that I'm coveting.

Balenciaga from Matches Fashion £605 BUY HERE

Boden £79 BUY HERE

COS £55 BUY HERE

Images: Pinterest, COS, Boden, Matches Fashion

Fashion: Blooming Beautiful Boden

The lovely people at British brand Boden very kindly sent my lucky lady a big bag of beautiful things recently. 

Pretty packages filled with beautiful clothes

She's still a little bit too tiny to wear the clothes, but is already getting great use out of the blankets and bibs. Here are some of the gorgeous items we received.

Dribble Bibs BUY HERE

Super soft cotton and towelling bibs in a delicate star and forest animal print perfect for mopping up baby dribbles.

Denim dress BUY HERE

This adorable dress comes with a super sweet striped top. I plan on putting this with some navy tights in the winter.

Pyjama set and blanket BUY HERE

A cute bed time outfit with the lovely forest animal print. I especially like the gender neutral colours of cream, grey and yellow, perfect for a little boy or girl. This reversible blanket (one side stripes, one side forest animal print) is ideal for a cot or pram and would make an ideal gift for new parents.

Pyjama set BUY HERE

How adorable are these pyjamas! These are so soft to the touch and I love the pale blue with pink bow colour-way. I'd actually like a pair myself!

Body suit BUY HERE

With the sweetest collar, ruffle shoulder detail and picot lace edging this body suit will look great layered under a dress or dungarees. 

Body suit, hat and blanket BUY HERE

I love a stripe and I've got a feeling my little lady will too! This little body and hat in grey and cream are perfect for layering.

Cardigan BUY HERE

This cute cashmere blend cardigan comes in four different colours. I love the patch pockets and the contrasting velvet trim.

 Thank you Boden for being so kind!

S&T x

Beach Bags

I normally use an old Anya Hindmarch dust bag as my beach bag, but after my recent holiday I thought I should up my game. My perfect beach bag would be roomy enough for all my beach essentials (book, towels, sunglasses, lotions and potions), include a couple of pockets and come in a simple design such as stripes or chevrons.

Images Pinterest

Even though the shops are beginning to fill up with Autumn fashions there are still some great styles available, with some of my favourite picks on sale!

Boden £19.60

This pink stripe bargain from Boden has long leather straps and comes in 3 different colour-ways.

Etsy £81.77

This linen tote would work well long after the sun has disappeared as a gym or weekend bag.

H&M £14.99

I spied the plain version of this in H&M home. It's not a bag, but a storage basket, however it would make a cheap and cheerful accessory to carry all your beach items.

Heidi Klein £250

Heidi Klein, the queen of everything beach related, has created this chic beach tote. I particularly like the sporty white stripe and rope handle. This is a classic style to invest in and use year after year.

Labour & Wait £20

This beach bag from one of my favourite stores, Labour & Wait, was the one I purchased for my next holiday. I love the traditional design, leather handles and roominess of this basket. And what a fantastic price point!

Mango £19.99

Another bag that's in the sale so make sure you snap it up before it sells out.

Topshop £25

I love the yellow pom pom detail on this bag and while I wish the handles were real leather, it's a cute style at an affordable price.

Images: Topshop, Mango, Labour & Wait, Heidi Klein, H&M, Etsy, Boden, Pinterest

More Press Day Fun

Despite the miserable rain last week I wrapped up and headed out for some more press day action.

First up Boden. This British brand has been enjoying a renaissance with the fashion crowd for the past few seasons. For AW14 it showed lots of gorgeous embellishment, chunky knits and quirky prints. Here's what I was loving.

The most beautiful embellished flat shoes

Navy and gold dotty jumper from the younger Johnnie B line

The perfect brogue

Cute display cabinets at the press show

H&M showed their high end Studio collection in Paris this season and the press day gave us a chance to see it all up close. The collection is filled with rich, moody colours in a mix of textures. These items were my favs.

The perfect colour combo of navy and black on this jacket

The mule shoe trend looks set to continue

A stunning sequin sweater

I then popped over to see the lovely press team at Russell & Bromley to see what shoes we will be wearing come autumn.

Pointy toes, snake print and embellishment, yes please!

My dream shoe

The perfect day to evening across body bag. This is on my shopping list for AW

Only a few more weeks of press days to go now so I'll be updating the blog with all my finds again soon.