Sunglasses: Vintage style from Maui Jim

Hi guys,
I've had these sunglasses for two weeks and I've been waiting impatiently for a sunny day so I can show them off to you guys. However, as it hasn't stopped raining here in Norfolk since the day they arrived, I'm admitting defeat and showing you them indoors instead! I was sent these specs from the lovely folks at Maui Jim, and the quality is just as amazing as I expected: they manage to walk that tricky line between being sturdy and durable and feeling lightweight at the same time. They also have the added bonus of being seriously cool shades:

Kolohe Sunglasses c/o Maui Jim, £214. Pick up your own pair here. 

I'm disappointed you can't see these in their full glory (yup, full glory is what I'm referring to them as when they're on my face!) because they really do look fantastic on. I love their retro style and actually, the style of these sunglasses are taken from an original Maui Jim design: so they really are vintage-inspired!

Maui Jim sunglasses are well known for the quality of their lens, which do more than I thought it was possible for a simple lens to do: they have special filters to eliminate visual noise, and they feature a patented colour enhancing technology too. If you don't care about lens but it's celeb style you're interested in, they're also the favourite brands of celebs like Anna Friel, Reese Witherspoon and Zac Effron.

You will be seeing these beauties in an outfit post very soon: just as soon as we see a glimpse of the sunshine again! Then you'll see them in outfit posts again and again all summer long: these have been ceremoniously inserted in my handbag, and are my new go-to shades!

Have you bought new sunglasses for the summer yet? What style will you be looking for? 

Love Tor x

PS - As a little bonus shot, this is what happens when you try to take photos of things whilst the baby is in the house and feeling curious- carnage. You'll also note that the lens are covered in his finger prints because he just couldn't stop touching them: maybe Wilbur is a fan too?!

Lusting after designer sunglasses at bargain prices!

Hi guys,
I'm a bit of a sunglasses addict, but I'm also a clumsy oaf: I manage to lose, sit on, or otherwise break at least one pair of sunglasses every season. So getting designer shades for less than £20 is like the holy grail for me! It means I get to wear the sunglasses I love all summer long, but I'm not too heartbroken when their sell by date inevitably arrives.

Enter TK Maxx: home of the designer discount, and my favourite place to find sunglasses! They've just had a new drop of shades arrive on their website, and there is a great selection available. Whether you want aviators, vintage-style frames, coloured sunglasses, or wrap around shades, there's something for everyone: Row 1 left to right: Diane Von Furstenberg aviators, £19.99. Nicole Fahri retro sunglasses, £19.99. Brown Calvin Klein sunglasses, £19.99.
Row 2 left to right: Missoni oversized frames, £24.99. Jil Sander oval sunglasses, £29.99. Christian Dior red metal sunglasses, £69.99.
Row 3 left to right: Nicole Fahri purple sunglasses, £19.99. Hugo boss tortoiseshell frames, £59.99. Calvin Klein white sunglasses, £19.99.
Row 4 left to right: Mugler brown sunglasses, £19.99. Guess wraparound sunglasses, £24.99. John Richmond aviators, £16.99

I scoured through all of the designer sunglasses available twice before finally settling on ordering the oversized Missoni ones. I love the slight cats eye shape and the tortoiseshell colour. I really like brown or tortoiseshell frames, especially if you're fair skinned and fair haired. They blend in and are softer against your face, unlike black frames with can look too harsh and really dominate your face.

I'm also a huge fan of an oversized frame. Much like the theory that if you carry an oversized handbag against your hip it will make your body look smaller, I think that if you wear an oversized pair of sunglasses it will make your face look smaller: perfect if you have a big old moon face like me!

I want to end this by saying that this isn't a sponsored post: I just really love sunglasses, and as soon as I saw all these bargains in my TK Maxx newsletter today, I knew I had to share!

Do you buy new sunglasses every season? Or do you manage to not break the ones you have? (If so, tell me how you keep them in one piece! I'm useless!) And do you have your new sunglasses yet?

Love Tor x

SS13 In Primark this week: The Accessories Edit

Hi guys,
If you buy designer sunglasses only to sit on them, break the arms, or lose them as often as I do, then this is the Primark edit for you! Because right now Primark has a great range of sunglasses in store (with prices starting from just £1) that look considerably more expensive than they are, and some are so close to designer copies, that no one would suspect you weren't wearing the real thing!

They also have a great range of summer shoes and sandals: think wedges, heels, imitation converse in an array of candy colours, and stiletto heels so sharp you could have someone's eye out.

I'm prepared to admit that when it comes to accessories, I'm a bit of a snob: I love the smell and feel of real leather bags and shoes, and nowadays I won't wear anything that's imitation. But for summer bags and beach bags made of light weight canvas and cotton the standard is the same no matter where you buy it from: and for these accessories, I think Primark is perfect:
Orange and purple round sunglasses, £,1 Pearl encrusted beaded headband, £4.Polka dot mini bag, £3.
Aztec beach bag, £6 . Monochrome wedge heels, £16. Animal print cats eye sunglasses, £2

My picks from this bunch of bargains are the Aztec beach bag, which is perfect for a summer holiday and will go with whatever bikini colour I pick. And the orange and purple sunglasses: can you believe they're just £1?! I love the two-tone effect, and they'll look great as a focal point teamed with a simple cream sundress and an acid orange lipstick.
 
Are you a Primark shopper? And do you like these posts showing you what you might find in store, or do they take away the thrill of the chase for you? I'd love to know what you think!

Love Tor x

And the winner is.....

Using the old tried and tested names out of a hat method, the winner of the Polaroid sunglasses competition is commenter number 14; that's Louise! I don't have any contact details for you Louise, so drop me an email with your address so I can pop your gorgeous sunnies into the post. And congratulations! I haven't taken mine off all week!

In other news, sorry for my rubbish posting record over the past week, however I am working on a post reviewing some of the lovely new summer collection from Simply Be, which I will be posting tonight. After that I promise my usual daily posting routine will resume (My mum emailed me this morning because she was worried about the lack of posting - definitely time to get back to work!)

I hope you're all having a lovely week and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine!

Love, Tor xx

Competition: Win a pair of Polaroid sunglasses

I've been a bit obsessed with sunglasses lately: cheap ones, expensive ones, i've tried on them all! So I was really excited when Polaroid asked if i'd like to try a pair from their new range. And even more excited when they said I could have a second pair to give away to you guys!

The pair i'm giving away are from their catwalk chic collection, and are worth £65.99. They are the exact same pair as those I am showing and posing in above. They have a glossy black frame which is wider at the sides and the top, giving a movie star feel. The arms have a quilted effect complete with tiny silver Polaroid pieces: when I wore these yesterday the silver flecks kept catching the sun, making them quite literally eye catching. I love the shape of them: it's so distinctive, and actually manages to make my face look slimmer!

I knew Polaroid made sunglasses, of course, but I always saw them as practical ones, mainly targeted at men, so the new range took me by suprise: as well as the ones i'm giving away there are loads of other oversized lovelies, and some of the wire frame aviators are gorgeous.

As always, nothing too complicated needed to win: you just need to be a follower of the blog, and leave a comment below about your dream holiday destination (because we all need sunglasses for our imaginary holidays!) As always, the winner will be chosen at random from a hat.

Love, Tor x

Topshop sunglasses: I want a pair in every colour!

Hey guys,

Summer is getting closer and closer (it has to be true!) and there are certain things that you can't live without in the magic summer months: ice cream, bronzer, pims and lemonade, and sunglasses. I've needed my sunglasses twice this week (sadly only whilst driving) but I know as the weeks go on i'm going to need them more and more. In June and July a day where I don't get to wear my sunglasses is a bad day. So when I went to Topshop this morning I was like a kid in a sweetshop at their sunglasses rack: they come in every size and colour, they have great details, and even better not a single pair cost more than £20!

I love sunglasses but can't be trusted with designer pairs as much as I lust after them: I have a habit of losing them/sitting on them/breaking the arms, and i've never had a pair for more than a couple of months. Must try harder!

I like to mix and match my sunglasses to my outfits, so it's really exciting to be able to get such a great range on the high street at really affordable prices. I love the 1950s shape and colour of the peach plastic pair in the top left hand corner. I'm also obsessed with the cream imitation wayfarers on the bottom row, although sadly the colour didn't work on me: it made my skin look drained. On someone with olive tones though I think they would be perfect! There's something for everyone, and I think its a great way to update last years summer wardrobe; especially if, like me, your sunglasses from last year are long gone, and you need new ones anyway!

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Love, Tor x

Small Post: New Sunglasses

This is just a small post to share my new little purchase, as I am very pleased with it. Although it is technically the wrong time of year to be thinking about buying sunglasses, I am a terrible sunglasses murderer, and mine are often left missing limbs or eyes. I desperately needed a new everyday pair, because although it's getting colder, the Autumn sun is still very bright!

I popped into the Accessorize outlet (looking for slippers for my impending hospital trip rather than anything exciting or yummy) and found that, no doubt because of it being all the wrong season, all of their sunglasses were 70% off. I love Accessorize sunglasses, so I was like a kid in a sweet shop, trying on hundreds of pairs and looking for the best ones.


I settled on these, and with the 70% discount they were just £3.60!! They are a very yummy subtle leopard print with unusual silver trim and the shape suits my face perfectly (even if I do say so myself!!) I also got the long white lace gloves which the sunglasses are nestled on. The were reduced to £3 and I can see them being layered with everything this Autumn!

I know I often rave about outlet stores, and I am prepared to admit that they are often quite hit and miss, but at the moment the Accessorize one is definitely worth checking out!

Love, Tor xx

Here comes the sun....

...I know it's still winter, and it's still seriously chilly outside, but the sun has been so bright this weekend that I have had to hunt my sunglasses out of my sack of a bag on three seperate occassions. Thank God then that i brought these from Primark last week for a mere £2 to replace last summers pair which are already broken:

I'm a nightmare with sunglasses. I can get through up to 12 pairs in a summer. Put them in my bag and i'll sit on them on the bus. On the table in front of me in the beer garden? I'll have one too many and leave them behind. I've even been known to hang them on the hook in a changing room whilst trying on dresses and walk out leaving them dangling behind. For that reason, it's highstreet sunnies all the way for me:
Animal print hearts, Topshop £15. Pink and cream catseyes, Topshop £15. Rainbow sunglasses £17 Asos.com. Jeepers peepers blue sunglasses £15.75 asos.com and a whole page of groovy sun specs from next!

Or of course, I could sensibly invest in a sunglasses case:

£7.82, River Island

In which case, i might trust myself and make a small investment in these:

Hmmm, is it just me or do these £110 miu miu numbers look very similar to the £2 primark pair I could buy and break 55 times for the same amount of money!?

Nah, who am I kidding? They'd be lost and i'd be crying within a week! More multicoloured primark faux raybains for me then! £2 a pop: who can argue?

Love Tor

Ps - Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past week: house hunting is taking over my life. Why is the London letting market such a wretched nightmare?? We have found two we liked, the first one was gone before we could even get a second viewing, and the house of my dreams, which we saw and told the agent we wanted on saturday, might also have already been let. A bit of organisation please! Grrr!!!

Pps - Is anyone else wondering what Michelle Obama will be wearing for the inaugaration tomorrow? Exciting!

Hide my eyes, make me pretty

I admit it, i'm one of that rare breed of horrible (potentially pretentious) people that wears sunglasses in the winter. Cold sunny days make me happy because they mean I can protect my eyes stylishly from the bright white light.

I don't hate myself for my winter sunglasses wearing ways too much though, because i'll have you know i'm in good company (no,dear reader, i am not thinking of Victoria Beckham!)

Jackie Onassis, widow of the former US president JFK and all round style-icon was famous for wearing her statement shades all year round and even today "Jackie O glasses" is a phrase used synonomously with "oversized glasses". Sigh. And noone before or since has ever pulled off the look so effortlessly. All hail queen Jackie! We oversized shades enthusiasts salute you (whatever the time of year)!

Now even if you don't subscribe to the "i'll wear sunglasses with everything goddammit" philosophy-and if you don't you should really think about it- with summer just around the corner (I promise it is, you can almost smell it) now is the perfect time to invest in a brand new pair of super cool-because no other kind of cool will do- shades. With this in mind, Miss Becky and I set out to find the finest of the finest sunglasses for your viewing pleasure.

Our first stop was H&M, as they are one of the only few highstreet stores to have their new summer sunglasses range in stock already:

Help! Our noses seem to have disapeared! Bad, bad H&M.......

For these fine oversized offerings in a variety of different shapes and colours, H&M deserve a ginormous thumbs up. And with each pair coming in at under £5, they represent extrordinary value for money (particularly if, like me, you sit on and therefore break at least 3 pairs every summer regardless of price or quality)

With this minor eyewear victory under our belt, we headed jauntily (because Becky had brought a new hat from H&M, and jauntily is the only way you can possibly walk sporting a new hat) to the House of Frazer.


As you can no doubt tell from my scrambled enthusings above, I am somewhat of an oversized shades obsessive, so I didn't think I was going to like the Rayban wayfarers worn by such celebs as Kelly Osbourne and Sienna Miller (just in case you don't look at any gossipy celeb blogs now and again!) I usually much prefer Rayban aviators. Especially the dark brown ones. But these glasses were suprisingly comfortable and flattering: particularly as they cut under my (relatively new) fringe- a problem I have been having with the bigger styles.


Becky looked particualry glamourous in these Spitfire offerings, but we both agreed that given their dark colour and shape, they were just too big for her lovely face. In fact, the House of Frazer sunglasses department was a bit of a disapointment, particularly for Becky, with this Dior shades making her pull her saddest and unhappiest face:

Poor, poor becky! If you promise to stop pulling that frog face I shall turn you into a princess to make you feel a little better:

*** Original picture taken from talented charicaturist Killia Llano

Oh Miss O! You really are!