Embellished Shoulder Dress / Turquoise Jewel Earrings

Dress : c/o Lashes of London. Earrings : Miss Selfridge. Shoes : ASOS.

Hello all! 

I feel well and truly inspired after the lovely reception I had in the comments, on Twitter & Instagram in response to my 'I'm back!' blog post. So, thank you to everyone who read, commented and took the time to message me, welcoming me back. 

Today I'd like to share this dress, kindly sent to me by Lashes of London. I love the heavy embellishment on the shoulders. I just think it's utterly beautiful and wonderfully extravagant. Since moving in with my friends from university, I've had so many more opportunities to go 'out' ('out out' - not just 'out') and I've already worn this dress three times in the 4 weeks or so since it's been in my posession, which is seriously repetitive for me! It fits perfectly, and I'd be just as happy wearing it out for a few civilised drinks as I would wearing it to a rather less civilised club. In fact, I've done both. It's now found itself in the position of being my 'go-to' going out dress, which is odd as it's not really something that can be dressed up in massively different ways. I'm just THAT fond of it. Do you have a particular go-to going out dress? 

I'M BACK - Ombre Coat / Marble Print Shirt / Leather Trousers

Coat : Jonathan Saunders for Debenhams. Shirt : ZARA. Trousers & Earrings : Topshop. Bag : Chanel.

Why, hello there. 

You may or may not remember me from a little style blog called 'Arabella'. I dissapeared for a bit didn't I? I won't bore you with the reasons why I was gone, but I will tell you that my passion for blogging remains unwavering and I'm back now, AND I promise to behave myself in the future. I'm starting this new year in a positive frame of mind and I've even got plans to make my first YouTube video. I feel like I've got an annoying voice and you all might hate and leave me upon hearing it... but please let me know if you'd like me to do this!

Over the last 3 months I've accumulated a rather shamefully large amount of new pieces that I can't wait to share with you, although you might have already seen sneak peaks of some of it if you follow me on Instagram, where I've become rather a prolific user (@arabellagolby). 

The more beady-eyed amongst you might have noticed a subtle change to my hair; it's a shade or two darker and the dip-dye is gone. I can already tell I'm going to look back on my dip-dye in 20 years in the same way that people of a certain age look back on The Mullet; 'oh god why?' but it made me happy at the time so I won't regret it.

Finally, (here comes my emotional Oscars acceptance speech) I want to say thank you to those of you who've still been enjoying my blog while I've been away and those who (prepare to vom) 'stuck by me'. Sometimes the blogosphere can be a bit fickle, with people coming and going all the time. So, I feel grateful that while I wasn't posting I only gained followers. So whether you only followed me yesterday or you've been here since the beginning, THANK YOU. I truly appreciate you and I hope you enjoy this outfit. 

Dogtooth Coat with Leather Sleeves / Plum Fedora / Checked Shirt

Coat : ZARA. Hat : Whistles. Necklace : Accessorize. Shoes & Faux Fur Collar : ASOS. Shirt : Primark. Trousers : Topshop.

Hello all!

You may or may not know, I have trouble finding hats that fit my somewhat bulbously large head (if you follow me on Twitter you'll definitely know this because I spend 60% of my time whinging about it.) I've always been a big fan of hats and in the last year it seems that everyone and their Aunt Mildred has bought a Topshop fedora. However, since these hats are 'one size fits all' (this is a despicable and hurtful lie) I'd been scouring the internet for that elusive size L. I eventually found and ordered three Whistles fedoras in various colours, all size M/L. Strangely enough, only the plum colour fits me despite all being labelled as the same size. It's a mystery, but I'm planning a trip to a Whistles store to right this wrong.

Moving on from my head, I've been back at uni for 3 full weeks now and so am trying to acclimatise myself to a living-away-from-home student budget. It's not going well so far but I'm trying. In an attempt to cut costs I ventured into Primark and found this shirt, a lovely pair of pointed toe heels and an adorable tartan dress, both of which I will be sharing with you in due course. This may even be the first time I've featured Primark on my blog as quite frankly the cavernous-ness of the shop and the size-8-garment-on-size-14-hanger situation frightens me quite deeply. Anyway, I'm incredibly pleased with my new Primark purchases and will definitely be exploring the store more often. What do you think of the whole Primark shopping experience?

Black Lace Sleeve Dress / Autumnul Floral Headpiece

Dress : c/o Gorgeous Couture. Belt : ASOS.  Headpiece : Rock N' Rose

Hello all!

Firstly I'd like to apologise for the rather sparse blog posts as of late. I've just finished my first week into my 3rd year at university, and also the first week living in my new shared house. I'm hoping to get into the routine of roping someone into photographing my outfits a few times a week whilst I'm there and editing them when I can. 

Anyway, before I assume the usual leather trousers + shirt + long coat +fur stole infallible winter during-semester combo, I was rather pleased to have an opportunity to dress up, and dress up I did in this beautiful Gorgeous Couture Dress. The lace of the in particular is perfectly detailed; I'm crossing my fingers for a chance to wear this in the near future and I couldn't resist adding this beautifully autumnal floral headpiece; we all know I like to overdress for every occasion but it's not exactly daywear appropriate.

LFW Day 5 Outfit : Pink Coat / Emerald Jewellery / Black Faux Fur

Coat, Top & Necklace : ZARA. Fur Collar : ASOS. Earrings & Skirt : Topshop.  Umbrella : Accessorise. 

Hello all!

I'm writing this from my new room for the next 7 months, in my new house at university where I start my 3rd and final year tomorrow! (If you want to see any photos of my room, check my instagram @arabellagolby) 

I'd been accumulating various bits and pieces over the last month or so that I hadn't got around to styling into an outfit. My little collection included; a beautiful pink coat, a blouse with a leather collar (purchased in a Parisian Zara which somehow makes it even more exciting), an incredibly OTT necklace and some equally extravagant green earrings. They'd all been sitting around being admired but going unworn  So, on the 5th day of London Fashion Week I just decided to chuck them (couldn't think of a more elegant word than 'chuck') all on at once. Voila. As it turns out, it's by far one of my favourite outfits, ever. It's just the perfect mixture of everything that I love. Pink, emerald green, obnoxiously large jewels, fur (faux, of course) leather, collars, midi skirts, checks AND to top it all off, my favourite weather; rain. My friend Bianca and I truly had to battle with the elements to capture these photos - we were well and truly sodden by the time we reached the new american fast food chain 'Shake Shack' in Covent Garden where we'd planned to have a late lunch. I think it's safe to say that we were slightly overdressed for the occasion. 

LFW Day 1 Outfit : Tartan Suit / Pointed Heels / Umbrella...

Above : (Stolen photo) Posing for a prom picture with Becca. Then with Amy and Naomi from Two Shoes One Pair & Shope and Shore from London's Closet.

Hello all!

You might already know I'm quite a fan of the feminine-androgynous look. By 'feminine androgynous', which seems a bit contradictory - I mean I enjoy taking something quite traditionally masculine, like a suit, and adding particularly feminine elements like a pussybow blouse, cat eye sunglasses and a ribbon tied into a bow on the end of a plait - as I've done here! If you've been monitoring the London Fashion Week coverage you'll be aware of the weather situation. I saw someone tweet a couple of days ago; 'LFW = London Flood Weed.' It's true. It poured. I'd brought my goes-with-everything black umbrella, and with hair tightly contained in the high-plait there wasn't much chance of a frizz flare-up, so I wasn't too concerned, I actually found it quite pleasantly atmospheric. This was a last minute outfit decision although I'd had this suit hanging up on my 'new in' rail for about a week, and I adore it. The shoes however, are deadly (yet beautiful) in a way that is difficult to describe. A feeling I had not experienced from shoes. I said to various people throughout the day who inquired after the wellbeing of my feet - that they weren't painful on my feet, but on my calves  Oh my god my calves. They should market these shoes as a device for calf-toning. 

I was also so happy to see lots of blogger friends, and to make new ones! (I'm looking at you, Becca, Amy & Naomi!)