Christmas Day Outfits

What's this? No Friday Five today?
Well, I'm shaking things up a little bit because this will be one of my last posts for a while. I'll be officially on hiatus until early January. I feel like I need a little break because obviously Christmas is a pretty busy time, and then I have a few exams in January that are going to take up a lot of my time. But I'll be back soon, of course, armed with some shiny new posts and hopefully a new blog layout.
Now, in this post, I'll be showing you three outfits that will get me through Christmas day!

 Christmas Morning
In my opinion, nothing beats spending the whole of Christmas morning snuggled up in your PJs. I've done it ever since I was a little girl, and I see no reason to stop now!

Braving The Cold
There is some sort of unwritten rule that if there is snow on the ground on Christmas day, the entire family has to leave the gorgeous warmth of the house and trek aimlessly through the snow to nowhere in particular for about twenty minutes. I've never really got the point of this, but I guess it's a nice tradition.

Christmas Dinner
This will usually take place just after we've gone on an outside venture, and is one of my favourite parts of the day. I like to wear something casual (i.e. with a bit of room for Christmas pudding) but nice and pretty. This could also be worn for Christmas parties.

 So, these are the sorts of things I'll be wearing on Christmas day, but what about you? Will it be a pajama day for you or will you be dressed up to the nines by 7am? Leave a comment if you like.
Lots of love and mistletoe,

Fashion Flashback: 1950s

pictures from here

This is part of a series! You can check out my last Fashion Flashback post here.

I absolutely adore fashion in the 1950s. Fashion started to become a little more daring. Waists were cinched, full skirts were worn, and the world was recovering from the hard times caused by the war. The 1950s also saw a surge in popularity with pin-up girls. Nowadays, pin-up inspired fashion is incredibly popular. I'd say that the 1950s seems to be one of the most popular decades with modern fashionistas wearing retro fashion.

I can't possibly write a post about 1950s fashion without mentioning Marilyn Monroe. She had this perfect balance of sex appeal and glamour while also being totally loveable. This Wikipedia article on all the times she's been referenced in pop culture says it all - her image has truly been immortalised. To this day, she is one of the biggest style icons of all time.

1. Clutch from Debenhams / £7.50
2. Sunglasses from Mango / £22.99
3. Dress from Dorothy Perkins / £50.00
4. Shoes from ASOS / £20.00
5. Necklace from Modcloth / £7.50
Total =  £107.99

What's your favourite part of 1950s fashion? Comments are always appreciated. Next time I'll be moving on to the 1960s, so I'd love to hear what your favourite trends from that decade are too.
Until next time, happy shopping!

Playlist December '12

Hello there! I've never done a post like this before, but I thought I should write a little something about my love for music. I think music is an incredible thing. It can cheer you up, it can send shivers down your spine, it can provide a soundtrack to the best and worst times of your life, it can make you want to dance, sing or cry, and it can touch and inspire you.

I like a lot of music. I can't really say which genres I prefer, and I can't really explain what makes me like a particular song. Sometimes it's because it has meaningful lyrics, and sometimes it simply has a good beat and catchy hook. I don't play any instruments (I scraped a grade one in violin about seven years ago, but I don't really count that because if I picked up a violin now I'd probably make your ears bleed a little) and I probably sing terribly out of tune, but I still love music, I still consider it to be a part of my life. I think that says a lot about how important music is.

Now, for the playlists. I should say that these are unordered.

UK CHARTS

These are songs that have been high up in the UK charts this year. I think modern pop music gets a lot of bad press, and I agree that there have been some pretty bad songs in the charts this year (seriously, can we now ban all future use of the word "floor", "dance" or "young" from lyrics?) but if you look hard enough I think you can find some gems. 

Sorry ladies and gents, but One Direction are not present on this list (though they are a slight guilty pleasure of mine)! 

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra

Some Nights - fun.

Spectrum - Florence + The Machine

Skyfall - Adele

Mama Do The Hump - Rizzle Kicks

Drunk - Ed Sheeran

So Good - B.o.B

Drive By - Train

Picking Up The Pieces - Paloma Faith

Anything Could Happen - Ellie Goulding

ALTERNATIVE

I don't know how "alternative" you'd consider some of these songs, because maybe some of them have been on albums that have been in the charts, and may have been something like #127 on the UK singles chart, but they're certainly more alternative than the charts list. Jake Bugg is featured twice on this list because for me he has been the artist of the year! 

Lightning Bolt - Jake Bugg

I Always Knew - The Vaccines

Demons - Imagine Dragons

When My Day Comes - Tribes

Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean

Teen Idle - Marina & The Diamonds

Feels Like We Only Go Backwards - Tame Impala

Sleep Alone - Two Door Cinema Club

Two Fingers - Jake Bugg

Brightest Lights - King Charles ft. Mumford & Sons

CHRISTMAS

Of course I couldn't not make this list. This is a mix of old and modern classics. They all make me feel insanely happy whenever I listen to them.

Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

8 Days Of Christmas - Destiny's Child

Christmas Time - The Darkness

Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid

Mary's Boy Child - Boney M

Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney

Stay Another Day - East 17

This post has been quite word heavy, so thank you if you've stuck with it - and thank you if you've just skimmed, because I can't really blame you! Hugs and kisses.

Friday Five: Winter Headwear!

Goodness gracious. I can't believe it's been almost two months since I started Floral Mess. I guess time flies when you're having fun, right? I'm almost a little impressed with myself for keeping it up regularly for this long, but I think maybe I should wait a few more months before I start feeling smug.

This post is inspired by the fact that winter and my ears are not friends. They, along with their buddy my nose, are the first part of me to turn ice cold when I decide to brave the outdoors during winter. What better way to stop this than with some trendy (and more importantly warm) winter headgear?

1. The Bear Hat Of Adorableness

Lipsy / £12.00

2. The Ear Muffs

Republic / £10.00

3. The Faux Fur Hat

New Look / £9.99

4. The Trapper Hat

H&M / £14.99

5. The Beanie

Topshop / £12.00

Now, I'm off to make a nice big mug of hot chocolate and daydream about Christmas. Thank you for reading and, as always, comments are very much appreciated!

Lots of love,

Winter Pastels

Have I told you how much I love pastels? Well, I do. Lots and lots. While they are usually considered spring colours, I think they are lovely all year round. In winter time they can add colour to your outfit in a toned-down, pretty way.

Items featured:

1. Scarf from Monki / £18.00

2. Beanie from River Island / £13.00

3. Blouse from Monki / £25.00

4. Dr. Marten Boots / £120.00

5. Jumper from Topshop / £36.00

6. Shirt from Republic / £24.00

7. Jeans from River Island / £20.00

I've been heavy with the Christmas-related natter recently due to child-like excitement that the beginning of December always brings, so I thought I'd making this post a little different (i.e. slightly calmer) would be a good idea.

Thanks for reading.

Naughty vs. Nice

I am really in the holiday spirit right now. If I could fast forward time and make it Christmas Day right now I totally would. This year, I think I've been pretty good. I started this blog (which I've been wanting to do for ages and ages), I've always said "please" and "thank you", and refrained from slamming any doors. But on the other hand, I may or may not at times be, ever so slightly, just a little bit, extremely lazy. I think we all know there's only one way to settle this inner turmoil... through THE POWER OF FASHION via a holiday outfit showdown!

Items featured:
1. Clutch from Miss Selfridge / £18.00
2. Boots from Boohoo / £18.00
3. Bracelet from ASOS / £8.00
4. Bangle from Mango / £9.99
5. Dress from Topshop / £45.00
Total = £98.99

 

Items featured:

1. Clutch from New Look / £12.50
2. Shoes from H&M / £3.00
3. Bracelets from River Island / £13.00
4. Hairband from Forever 21 / £3.60
5. Dress from Miss Selfridge / £45.00
 Total = £77.10
 
So which do you like better, the naughty outfit or the nice one? Have you been naughty or nice this year? I tried to get a poll on here but I can't find a site that lets me embed polls in blogspot posts. Sigh.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always comments are adored!