An Aussie Abroad



Hey Guys!
My uber lovely BFF Laura has given me the privilege of writing a blog post for you. I have come over to London to spend time with her and her amazing boys and of course to do an immense amount of shopping.
I am currently living in Sydney, Australia in a great little suburb called Newtown, which is quite trendy but quirky; we have our own weird mixture of punks, hippies and hipsters. I lived over here 3 years ago and worked in Topshop Oxford Circus which as you can imagine was mental, but it did make me more obsessed with Fashion. I am currently a size 14 - 16 in most labels and a size 7 or 8 shoe, so in fashion terms I am technically a "plus" size. 

I love the UK High Street, it's everything that you could hope for in affordable and fashionable clothing. I find it quite hard living in Australia now after being in London and having so many options readily available. Australia is quite limited in what I would consider 'High Street' clothing. Sportsgirl, Forever New, Dotti and Cotton On are just some of the stores that we have. These vary in price from Cotton On where you can buy a dress for approx. $40 (£20) to Sportsgirl where dresses are approx. $90 (£45). However, I find that I can't find a lot of clothes I actually like or ones that I haven't seen on 20 other people before I even get to the stores. We are slowly getting some of the 'High Street' store such as Zara and Topshop but I still feel the variety of clothing is very limited.

I tend to buy a lot of stuff online from the UK instead. I use Topshop and Asos more than any other sites, because I know their quality and sizing pretty well, but after the amount of shopping I have done this trip at River Island I will definitely be using their site soon. Unfortunately H&M do not currently ship to Australia, so we are losing out a bit there. I also use a great US site called Modcloth, who are pretty affordable and play to my style a little bit more.



I love the 40's/50's pin up look and love anything that is a little bit cutesy. I've also been adapting a bit of an Alexa Chung casual look as well, Shorts and Tights and Chelsea Boots teamed with jumpers and loose fitting tops. Love Hearts and Stripes are main players in my wardrobe, along with a good bit of leopard print. I'm loving all the skater dresses at the moment, they are something I can wear to work (Business Casual clothing) and wear out, they are my saviour! Laura has been laughing at me lately as everything I'm buying is pretty much either Blue or Red.

Here's some of the stuff I bought this visit -

Topshop: I bought the above Red Knitted Lace Insert Top, it is a little cropped for my liking but I have loved layering it over collared shirts this week. Plus the Lace gives the Top a great subtle stripe which is great piece of detail that isn't necessarily noticed from a distance.
I bought 2 pairs of the Leigh Super Soft Skinny Jeans which I love; I bought these online last year and the fit is amazing, however I wore 3 pairs out pretty quickly due to drunken accidents. 
I also bought the Structured Skater Dress in Blue. I love this dress it fits in all the right places and I adore the colour. I think I will team this with a block coloured belt and shoes.
The Scratchy Heart Drop Back Shirt is one of the other things I bought. I LOVE this shirt, not only is it completely comfortable but it is covered in Hearts! (as you might guess, slightly obsessed)

Topshop Instore Display

River Island: I bought the Black Lip Print Belted Playsuit and the Navy Collar Sailor Playsuit. I have never been a fan of the playsuit, I've always thought of them to be impractical and uncomfortable, but I love these. They of course are impractical to go out in but the fit is so great that I can live with getting undressed every time I need to pee.
I got the Navy City Shorts, which I can wear both casually and to work, and can wear bare legged or with tights. I think I will be living in these when I get back home. I have been living in my Black Denim shorts all trip and been pairing them with tights, I think this is a great winter look if you can deal with your legs being a bit cold.
Keeping with the Navy theme, I also got the Navy Chelsea Girl Circle Crochet Dress. This dress is great, it is something that I can see myself wearing all year round. It is pulled in around the waist and ecentuates all the right parts of my body.


River Island Window Display
Mango window display

H&M: I got a few T-shirts here. I got the Navy and Red polka dot tee with a seam in the waist and flounce hem, and I got the 'Hello Darling' beige flared tee. I always need new T-shirts, I always tend to wear the same ones over and over until I get completely sick of it, so some new additions are always great.

That is only a short snippet of the bits I have bought. I came over here with a suitcase that weighed 14kgs and I'm going to be lucky if my bag is under the allowance on my way back. I have bought shoes and bags and jewellery and art as well. There are so many things I love about London, the shopping is definitely pretty high on the list. I wish at times I could take all the good parts of both Sydney and London and create some sort of Super City, not sure how it would work but it would make my life so much easier.

A big THANKYOU to Law!
For both letting me guest blog for her and letting me crash on her couch for the last month and be a complete nuisance. 

All images have been taken by me. 





2 comments

  1. great photos. Everything looks amazing!xx

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