True Blue (A Belated Part 2)

So a couple of posts back and what seems like many moons ago I spoke about my new hero Jean shape. In particular, a pair I pretty much live in at the moment from Urban Outfitters. Just to recap (pictures below to refresh your memory further) they are a wide, flared leg, with a high waist and cropped in length... A length I referred to as "awkward", but the good kinda awkward. One of reasons I'm obsessed with this shape at the moment (as mentioned in my previous post) was because it takes the idea of a retro staple, The Flare and it revamps it, to give it a modern day look. The beauty of this is you can go one way or the other with it, you can dress them as modern and as minimal as you like. Oooor you can go as retro as you like without looking like you've just stepped out of a time machine. Enter the outfit below.

So the previous post I wrote on these wonderful jeans was a simple look, kinda girly, kinda current and super duper easy! However the outfit below is a little more true to my heart and harks back to a look which from an early age I've pretty much built my style around. It's a more obvious retro look one which of recently I've kinda abandoned. Call it growing up or call it growing out of it, either way I've noticed over the past few years I've gone from strictly dressing vintage to gradually evolving it into a more relaxed style. I've kinda gone from Sixties Mod-esque Go Go girl to seventies Tom-boy and I'm totally ok with this, as displayed below. The thing is and at the risk of sounding patronising to anyone younger than me (why am I making myself sound middle aged right now?), as you grow older and grow more into your own style, I think you learn to stop replicating looks and learn to elaborate on them, give them your own stamp. And vintage style has been the best example of this learning curve for me.  

I'm completely obsessed with Crochet! Give me a granny square crochet blanket and I'll most likely wish I could wear it, so unsurprisingly I was drawn immediately to this Zara number and I just had to have it! My only issue with crochet is that, especially in summer, you run the risk of looking a little stereotypical festival "boho" and I'm just not into that ( well actually that's putting it mildly, I try to avoid this look at all costs). So in order to stir well and truly clear of this look, I've added a wardrobe staple underneath, a classic white crew neck tee to transform it more into a seventies tank top. Not to degrees from my outfit, but whilst we are on the subject my numero uno wardrobe top is; if you find the perfect plain white tee for you, please for the love of God buy it in bulk. They are like the Holy Grail and you'll be saving yourself the stress of in a few years time trying to replace it. Seriously. Moving back on with my outfit, this look is crying out to be worn with a pair of classic plimsoles (or shock horror in my case, CONVERSE) for a seventies teen vibe but I've gone the extra mile and glam rocked it up with my all time favourite babies, the Office silver ankle boot. *Swoons*. Ziggy Stardust lives on. 

There's almost a sense of relief in me wearing and posting outfits like this one because it validates there's still so much vintage inspired love for me to give! Phew! You never really fall out of love with your favourite style inspirations, you just grow with them and learn to make them relevant now... Come to think of it, a bit like my Urban Outfitters flares. 

Sophia X 






Crochet top- Zara
Jeans- Urban Outfitters
Boots- Office


Sundays/Sun Daze

I have such a love/hate relationship with Sunday's. The majority of the day I love but I hate it when it has to end and those Monday feels kick in. My boyfriend says he dreads it turning 8pm because that's when I turn into serious, work mode me. Sunday's for me are procrastinating (up until 8pm obviously) and ideally it looks a little something like this; lay ins, coffee in bed, Eggs Benedict, not getting dressed until mid day, family time and most importantly ROASTS (diets don't exist on Sunday's)! Last Sunday ticked all of the above boxes. Sunday generally, as a rule, is the only full day I get to spend with Joe (said boyfriend). I work Monday to Friday and Saturdays, especially throughout summer, Joe will ordinarily be away on tour or at a festival. Making them ever more invaluable! 

So last week was super sunny and super hot and the main focus of my day was hunting down an ice cream van (priorities, priorities). I spent the day doing absolutely nothing in particular and that's the way I intended to keep it. My outfits on Sunday's (I feel like I'm on a Sunday word count of about 50 already) are normally minimal effort. Smock dresses or a striped tee and a stone washed Jean, normally do just fine for me. And obviously Converse or Superga are key. For some reason I always feel like the sun making an appearance forces you to step up your wardrobe game. This is probably due to sunny weather being so limited in Manchester and it opening up new (equally limited) outfit options, which you then have to quickly debut before the sun is gone and you're left with grey/rain again. 

Last Sunday I opt for my new favourite trouser/Jean (Jouser? Trean? Have I just invented a new mega mix item of clothing?!) from ASOS, which I featured in my last, "quickie", outfit of the day post. They're seriously comfy and this shape is a staple at the moment for me. It's like a cross between a culotte and a flare (flulotte? Clare? I'm on a roll today). Super flattering, a lil' retro, a lil' modern, very VERY current. I teamed it with one of my favourite types of fabric, Embroidery Anglaise. I recently did a HUGE wardrobe sort out, organising everything by similarity/categories and the amount of Broidery Anglaise I had almost rivalled stripes. Honestly if you think you can have too much of it, you're wrong. There's something sweet and nostalgic about this kind of fabric, like the type of thing your mum would have dressed you in for summer when you were younger. But then put Broidery Anglaise into a vintage blouse or a Cami and you have serious Penny Lane/Almost Famous kinda vibes. The one I'm wearing below is a newie from Topshop, in a square halter neck shape; I'm currently seeing a lot of this shape neck on the high street and frankly I really love it! I topped the whole outfit off with my all time winning sandals I've had for absolute YONKS from Office, they're effectively a grandad style sandal, they are so so SOOOOO comfy. They fit my feet like gloves and I always feel like I should be wearing them with a chunky marl sock and a cord slack à la your typical man over 70 years of age killing it on the outfit stakes. All in all this is a perfect Sunny Day outfit by my accounts. Laid back and lackadaisical just how I like my Sunday's.

So here I am, on yet another Sunday, currently sat in bed with Evie, my cat (festival season means I'm a Joe down) and my laptop typing all of this out for you! But if you've read any of the above you'll know I have some serious procrastinating to do, so if you don't mind I think we will leave it there for now. May your Sunday be filled with lots of non-productivity and roast chicken/potatoes. 
Sophia x 
















Embroidered Cami- Topshop
Denim Cropped Pant- ASOS
Sandals- Find some similar here from Salt Water Sandals


Sophia meets Love Lucy

Now don't get me wrong I love shopping in the likes of Topshop, Zara and H&M as much as (if not more than) the next person. They serve a purpose and they do their job well but for me, vintage and boutique shopping wins hands down. There's a charm and authenticity about boutique shopping that the high street shops just can't quite replicate. So when I got invited by the lovely folk at Love Lucy Boutique in Chorlton to come and have a little nosey at what they have to offer, I jumped at the chance (never one to turn down a nosey, especially where clothes are involved)! And they did NOT disappoint. An adorable independent boutique with that warm, make yourself at home feel and filled with the prettiest collection of clothes you ever did see. With each pieces personally selected for the likes of me (and you) to swoon over. High street, shmigh street. 

Love Lucy Boutique- Beech Road, Chorlton

So clothes wise, what exactly does Love Lucy have to offer? Well it currently stocks pieces from the likes of Motel Rocks, Sister Jane and Darling to name a few. But rather then blab on about every single item in the shop which I could easily do, I've decided to make life easier for you and I've plucked out some of my top picks for you to take a little look at... 

Dress- Neon Rose
Shirt Dress (worn underneath)- Sister Jane
Dress- Motel Rocks
Blouse- Darling London

So there's something about a sleeveless dress with a round neck which makes me feel completely compelled to turn it into a pinafore. It's a little habit of mine to want to add a Peter Pan-esque collar to pretty much every dress without one, as displayed quite clearly above. The first dress is from Neon Rose and it was the beautiful coral colour I was drawn to. The dress on its own is spot on for summer. It's easy, effortless and the shade is just asking to be worn with your best holiday tan. But whilst we dream of summer, we are still in spring... And it's England, so I decided to give the dress a little retro feel and teamed it with this adorable embroidered blouse from Sister Jane underneath. It's a nice touch and it completely transforms when and where you could potentially wear this dress, plus it makes it more accommodating for colder climates (Manchester weather, I'm looking at you). The second dress is a seriously A-Mazing stand alone piece, in a organza chiffon with the the most beautiful floral embroidery. If you're wanting to make a big impression, I'd say this party dress is the way to go. I, however have added a nude blouse from Darling underneath to tone down the dressiness and transform it into a daytime dress.

Dress- Sister Jane
Dress- Sister Jane

I'm in love with both these Sister Jane dresses! I'm a complete sucker for the following (in no specific order); lace, high necks lines, bell sleeves aaaand ruffle collars and between them, the two dresses tick all boxes so it seemed only fair to show you both? Neither of these dresses, in my eyes, need over complicating with anything additional. They speak for themselves and so all you need to do is get your ankle boots on and go. Easy! 

Denim Jacket- Waven
Dress- Plum&Pigeon

One of my top favourite collections in the shop was from local brand Plum and Pigeon who use Liberty print and vintage style fabrics to recreate these adorable baby doll, retro style dresses as seen above. I added the over-sized denim jacket from Waven to give it a more modern look, but to be honest I didn't feel the picture did the dress any justice, so I've added a second photo so you can see just how pretty it is all on its lonesome. Plus, look! It comes with its own Peter pan collar, so it's saved me a job. Wear with milk maid plaits and brogues for when you're feeling particularly kitsch.

Ok so I'm stopping there and limiting myself to just the 5 pieces! Having to pick out favourites from such lovely collections wasn't the easiest and this is just a snippet of what the boutique has to offer. If you do want to see more from Love Lucy you can find them on Instagram- @lovelucychorlton or you can visit their webpage ooooor you can just be old skool like me and go visit the store on Beech Road, Chorlton. 

 Sophia x