It's tea party time for everyone!

Hi guys,

As you know doubt already know (I talk about it enough!) the theme of my wedding is Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatters tea party. We're having flowers in tea cups, tea pot favours, and all manners of other whimsical things. Which is why Marie Curie's new "blooming great tea party" campaign resonated so much for me.

Marie Curie are asking people to hold tea parties to fundraise for Marie Curie nurses who provide free care for people with terminal cancer and illnesses in their own home. Tea parties big and small will make a difference in helping terminally ill people spend their final days at home. Every £20 that's raised will pay for an hour of nursing care. 1 in 3 people in the UK are affected by cancer (either themselves or someone they love) so I think caring for those people is something we all think about/know about.

The best thing about throwing a tea party or getting involved in the campaign is, this only has to be as much hard work as you want it to be! Your tea party can be everything from a vintage high tea (the fashion bloggers dream) to agarden party, our just a cuppa and a cake in the office with colleagues. The ‘official’ tea party season lasts from June 12th to July 12th but people can register to hold one any time up to 31st July. My wedding is on July 15th, and I think i'm going to register and hold a party in my office for the week before that: that way I can celebrate my big day with my work friends that can't make the wedding, and save some money for a good cause too.

Will you be throwing a party? What theme will you have? Wedding planning has turned me into a party planning addict, so i'd love to hear all about it!

Love,
Tor xx

Saving for a rainy day. Even though the sun is shining!

Hi guys,

I have a secret confession to share with you today: I love saving money. I’m totally terrible at it, and seem to spend my entire pay check every month, but I have three different saving accounts and I use each one to save for different things. One is primarily used as my fashion savings account: if I see an incredible handbag or pair of shoes that I just have to have then I filter off some of my wages into the fashion account every month until I can afford what I want. And it feels really really good! Better than having something pretty when the pay off is debt, any day of the week! I also have a savings account which I call my teeth account: I’m pretty paranoid that one day something really terrible is going to happen to my teeth (it’s a recurring nightmare!) so I have a little cash put aside to get them fixed, should that terrifying day ever come.

I wish I was a better saver. I wish I could save “for a rainy day” or for my distant retirement. But I have to have a specific savings target to keep myself motivated. Right now of course, all my saving efforts are going towards the wedding: its amazing how much easier it is to save for something you really want!

As soon as the wedding is over (the finishing line is in sight!) I’d like to upgrade my car, buy a Mulberry handbag, and have a really great cashmere winter coat that would last forever. Ahh, the shallow targets of a fashion blogger! Ultimately of course we’d like to buy a house, but that is a saving situation bigger than I can comprehend right now!

Are you guys saving for anything at the minute? And how is it going?

Love, Tor xx

*This is a sponsored post

Very.co.uk A/W press day

Hi guys,
Yesterday I went down to the very.co.uk press day. Since the terrible experience I had ordering that Fearne Cotton dress, i've avoided the website, so I haven't been keeping up to date with new developments from the brand. However, if the gorgeous clothes at their press day are anything to go by (and if their delivery/ordering service has improved) I might well give it another go: the temptation of that swallow print dress is just too strong to resist!

Nude and black. Mmmm.....

Isn't it gorgeous? The net overlay, gorgeous pattern, and pearl detailing....

I love the super-high burgandy platform shoes

The dreamy swallow dress (which I haven't stopped thinking about since I saw it) is from Dee V: Very's newest designer collaboration with popster Diana Vickers. She joins Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby as the staple celebrity designers on the womenswear front. The price points are higher than I expected (around £50-65 for a dress) but the result of that is that the quality is better than I expected: celebs-as-designer lines are never usually so well made and thought out, but these ones really are.

If I have a better order experience from Very next time then i'll let you know, and they'll definitely make it back onto my 'great place to shop' list!

Love, Tor

New Website: Your Fashion Jewellery

Hi guys,

If I had to list my fashion obsessions, then the list would look like this: 1. Dresses, 2. Shoes, 3. Coats and Jackets, and 4. Stacks of gold jewellery (see today's stack below as evidence). Today's post will focus on no. 4, and my new website discovery: yourfashionjewellery.

Similar to ASOS back-in-the-day, the jewellery is divided into categories by celebrity, so you can pick the star who's jewellery you'd like to imitate, and choose the piece you like. But what I really love about the site is considerably more simple: I love the the charms and trinkety costume jewellery, which is massively wearable, and has the added bonus of being cheaper than Freedom @ Topshop (my usual jewellery haunt).

I don't really wear quality real gold/silver jewellery: I still love to layer my fashion jewellery and stack it high! I don't tend to wear earrings, and have abandoned most of my rings since I got engaged (it seems weird to wear a cocktail ring next to an engagement ring) so my jewellery obsessions are bangles, bracelets and layerable necklaces.

My favourite pieces from the site are: the 6 row gold chain necklace (£7.99) and the studded bangle (£5.50) See what I mean? I told you it was cheap! But the quality and finish looks really good: I can't wait to see a piece in the flesh and check it out!

The website also sells fashion accessories: hairbands, silk scarfs (perfect for wrapping around your head if you're creative, or tying to your handbag if you have monkey fingers like me!) but it's the jewellery that's caught my eye....as if I needed any more bangles, I have a feeling i'm about to go shopping!

Love, Tor xx

Fabfrocks at home: Second-hand nesting

Hi guys,
I've found myself being more and more interested in everything around me being aethetically interesting, and my house (which started life looking like an ikea starter home) is my newest project. Mike's natural instinct is for things to be clean and simple and minimalist. I prefer things to be more cluttered, and I love old vintage/retro furniture which is a bit beaten up, and looks like it's had a life. Our house is a compromise of both of these things, and i've spend the last couple of months scouring antique shops, car boot sales, and charity shops looking for new furniture to breathe a little of my taste into the living room:


I love this yellow wing back chair, which I got from a car boot sale for £6: the mustard colour of the fabric is gorgeous. The following week on the same car boot sale (and for just £5!) I found this embroidered footstool with the cutest mustard coloured house on it. It was fate! The dark wood on both isn't to my personal taste, but I plan to strip it back and repaint it: it's the first job on my things-to-do list after the wedding!

As well as buying new old furniture, i've also been repurposing some of our original furniture. This futon (a gift from my mum) is one of the most useful pieces of furniture in our house, and gets loads of use. But the colour doesn't match our living room at all: cue blankets, cushions, and voila! A perfect little corner snug in our living room that overnight guests can sleep on too!

The next thing on my "really really want" list is a cabinet for my fancy china and other bits to sit in our living room: i've been searching for the perfect one for over 6 months. It has to be right around the corner - but half the fun is in the hunt!

Love Tor xx

Packing for my honeymoon

Hi guys,
As you can see by our his and hers sunhats sat side by side (can I get an awww!) Mike and I have finished our shopping for our post-wedding honeymoon - there's just 7 weeks to go! With all the final payments on the wedding to make in the next 6 weeks, I wanted to get the expense of clothes shopping out of the way - but didn't want to go on holiday in an ill fitting bikini! So over the past couple of months (using sales, deals, and discounts) I have been hitting the shops....

As well as three bikinis for sunbathing and tanning, I also have a more sensible swimming costume for snorkelling in: it's leopard print, and it fits like a dream! Almost all of my swimwear is pink and gold (or colours that will compliment them) I have 2 pink bikinis, the pink and gold sarong, 2 pairs of gold sandals and this big brown and gold beach bag: I got it from the Monsoon outlet at Bicester village for a bargain price!

When i'm not on the beach my outfits will be pretty conservative: outside of our resort I have to keep my arms and legs covered. I've been buying up maxi dresses, pretty hareem trousers, and pashminas for easy (and cheap) arm covers. I'm also obsessed with the £2 stretch vests from Primark: i'm taking £10 worth! We have to 'dress for dinner' in our resort though, so my beloved gold D&G wedges will be coming with us, to team with simple floaty frocks.

As well as all the sensible clothes, i've also got a beautiful armoury full of new Soap and Glory toiletries (a Christmas gift from lil sis) which I have been patiently saving for our trip. I've added the Trevor Sorbie miniatures for my hair (from the Boots January sale - 70% off!) and aside from a little make up, that's everything I need!

As well as both of our digital cameras, we're also taking 2 disposables, and 2 waterproof disposables (for snorkelling/boat trips) with us: this will be one well documented trip!

The weekend after next has been set aside for ironing, folding, and packing both of our suitcases: our last weekend that won't be spent in Norwich making the final wedding preps! I don't think I could be more excited: both for the honeymoon and the wedding!

Love, Tor xx

*This is a sponsored post

Daily Wear: One night in Paris

Hi guys,
This is my last Sarenza post (I promise!) but I had such a good time in Paris, I have so much to write about! After much twitter chatter with Jen and Reena about what we should wear to the Sarenza "What's Hot!" party, I opted to overdress rather than underdress: my motto is any excuse to put on a pretty frock! And given the theme of the party was "hot shoes" how could I resist the chance to take my D&G wedges out for a date?! Here's what I wore:



Dress and belt: H&M, Cardigan: Topshop, Bag: Marc B, Shoes: D&G.

I love this dress, and was excited to have a chance to wear it: it was only £14.99 from H&M, but I think it looks so much more expensive. It matched perfectly with my D&G shoes, then I scruffed it up (because thats what I do!) with the lace cardigan and the tan and gold belt. Also: underneath the dress I am wearing the Panache strapless superbra: it comes in sizes D-H, and is genuinely the best strapless bra I have ever owned. My boobs stayed in place all night, and they had a good shape too! Overall, I was pretty happy with this outfit!

Love, Tor xx

The Sarenza trip to Paris

Hi guys,
As I mentioned on Tuesday, on Wednesday afternoon I headed to Paris with Reena from Fashion Daydreams and Jen from A little bird told me, to meet the lovely Sarenza team and go to a party to celebrate the launch of the new "What's Hot!" section of their French site (which will be coming to the UK site soon!) The Whats Hot section basically showcases some of the best shoes they have on the site: there is a Jeffrey Campbell tapestry pair on there right now that i'm totally in love with ! We had such a wonderful time, that i'm going to give you a blow-by-blow account of the trip. This is going to be a pretty image heavy post: we just couldn't stop taking photos!

By Night:
We arrived in Paris and headed to our hotel to change, then it was straight to the party! Several French bloggers had been out taking street style photos, and we had to choose who's style we liked best: all the guests voted, and the winner gets a massive 5000 euros worth of shoes! Once the serious business of choosing our favourite street style was over, we got on with enjoying ourselves. Yummy cocktails, great canapes, hotdogs, and gorgeous shoes: what more do you need from a night out?!








By Day:
Following our party night, we had a leisurely day planned for the rest of our time in Paris. We met the Sarenza team for a delicious brunch, then headed to several vintage shops for a good rummage: I had no idea vintage was so cheap in Paris! I picked up a full skirted dress and a sequinned top for just 15 euros. The rest of our time was spent meandering through tiny streets, and sitting outside cafes in the sun. It was a wonderful day!






Whenever i'm in Paris admiring the little things (like the graffiti or the shape of a tree!) it makes me want to come home and look at London with fresh eyes too: I think it's easy to miss all that stuff in the city you live in, but admire it when you're away. Nonetheless, Paris is beautiful, and I have such fun everytime i'm there. It was such a wonderful break, so big thanks again to Sarenza for organising such a great trip!
Love, Tor x

New website: Qrated.com

Hi guys,
I received an email last week about a new website which is launching on 15th June: so far so normal. So I decided to check it out: and (here's where the not normal bit comes in) I was pretty impressed! I'm quite hard to please when it comes to the interwebs: i'm obsessed with good web design, and this site has the right mix of colour, content, and quirk! Q Rated is based on the concept of "a fashion find a day": their buyers travel the globe looking for beautiful pieces, then when they find something they love, they sell it for just 24 hours (or until it's sold out) It's that simple! And each fashion find will include details on the designer, background info on the product and some handy styling suggestions, so they kind of do the hard work for you!


Q Rated is a membership website (with limited availablity) but membership is free. You can pre register for Q Rated on their facebook page: they also have a launch competition to win an ipad 2 on the facebook page, so you can't really lose! I registered this morning, and am looking forward to the site launch, so that I can really check it out properly!

Love, Tor

Daily Wear: Heading to Paris!

Hi guys,
This afternoon I am heading to Paris to join Sarenza for their 'What's Hot!' event: I knew being one of their brand ambassadors would lead to fun! I'll be wearing a fancy frock and my D&G wedges to the event, but for the train journey over to Paris I wanted something cool but comfortable. Here's what I ended up with:


Jacket: River Island, Blouse: Topshop, Jeans: Topshop, Wedges: ASOS, Hat: Clothing at Tesco, Bag: Debenhams.

I hate the way my legs look in jeans, so I rarely wear trousers, but I just couldn't resist the comfort of my black jeggings for the journey: I can curl up like a cat in these with no digging or irritation you get with so many other jeans (well, I do anyway!). The hat was a last minute addition, as it started raining as I left the house, but I didn't want to bring an umbrella: ditto the jacket. The wedges are so comfy, but it was impossible to balance on then and carry my big bag, so i'm now wearing my trusty pumps! Comfort over style all the way!

I can't wait to get to Paris, and share all the pics from the Sarenza event with you guys!
Love, Tor xx

Competition Winner AND Clothing at Tesco Press Day

Hi guys,
Well, first things first: drumroll please, it's time to announce the winner of my faith shoes competition, which I ran for an extra day because of the problems with blogger last week. The winner of those two gorgeous pairs of Faith shoes is........EMMA! I chose Emma because she wants to wear them to her best friends wedding: and you know i'm a sucker for weddings right now. Congratulations!!

Secondly, last week I went to the Clothing at Tesco press day and press show. I was obsessed with almost every coat I saw (its an addiction) and I couldn't believe how good they looked considering they only cost between £40-50. It was a really nice looking collection, especially for the money, and all of next seasons key trends were covered. Here's just a sneaky peak of some of the looks:


Colourwise, it was all very autumnal, and similar to last Autumn/Winter (good news if you aren't planning on doing much shopping this winter!) The seventies trend is still around, but has evolved from hippie to preppy: think bright denim, shirts with collars, and knitted jumpers. And I was glad to see that peach and cinamon were still popular: they're my current obsessions!

Love, Tor xx

Daily Wear: The birthday bow!

Hi guys,

I wanted to post these pics yesterday, but blooming blogger was playing up! Thursday was my birthday (i'm now 27 or, as my sister put it "the wrong side of 25") and, as it was my birthday, my inner five year old said I should definitely wear a big birthday bow in my hair:

I'm completely in love with this bow, which is leather and from Topshop. A leather bow is the perfect mix of tough and girly! As for the rest of the outfit: the pumps are topshop too, the jacket is H&M (my new obsession and the perfect summer jacket!) and the dress was from TKMaxx about 5 years ago, and I haven't stopped wearing it since! Incidentally, this is also the dress I was wearing this time last year, when Mike and I celebrated my birthday and got engaged....my wardrobe must've been feeling sentimental!

I had a lovely birthday though, and have lots of lovely prezzies to share with you guys: a gorgeous Betsey Johnson watch from my parents, an OTT clutch bag from Mike, and shoes and homemade jewellery from my sisters: I was spoilt rotten!

In the meantime PLEASE ENTER my competition to win 2 pairs of faith shoes, which i've extended to 5pm today, because of all the blogger issues meaning you guys couldn't enter for the past couple of days!

Love, Tor x

Daily wear: Ill advised knits!

Hi guys,
Will I ever dress right for the weather?! I decided to opt for a cardigan instead of a jacket, but chose the wrong one! This one left my arms cold when I was walking to work this morning, but is too thick for the heat of the day, and i'm sat feeling unbearably hot. Oh well, at least it's a nice looking cardigan: fashion first!



The dress is topshop (outlet actually, £20 bogof) the cardigan is very old New Look, the shoes are from Office. The jewellery and bag are all regulars that you've seen plenty of before!

I love these shoes and expected them to be comfortable, given they are such low heels. But despite the fact i've had them for three years, the peep toe cuts my big toes to shreds everytime I wear them, so I can only ever wear them on days where I know I won't be doing a lot of trekking about town!

Finally, sorry for the close up of my moody face (one of these days i'll learn to smile!) but I wanted to share my new hair cut and colour! It's not much different from the old one (i'm a creature of habit!) but I have had some low lights added this time so the colour won't look too harsh as it starts to grow out: my hair grows so quickly in the summer, so this is my only solution! The next time I have my hair coloured will be 6 days before my wedding! Eeek!!

Love,
Tor xxx

PS - DON'T FORGET to enter my awesome Faith competition! There are two amazing pairs of shoes up for grabs!

COMPETITION! Win two pairs of Faith shoes!

Hi guys,
I love a good giveaway, especially when it's of something dear to my heart: shoes! So how excited am I that Faith are offering one of you lucky people the chance to win 2 pairs of their new season shoes? The answer is very excited! Here is the prize on offer:

With these two amazing pairs of shoes, you'd have your day to night style sorted, especially if you love leopard print as much as I do. Together the shoes are worth £100! It's the platform peep toes that i'm in love with. If only I could enter myself...

To be in with a chance of winning these two amazing pairs of shoes, just Follow the blog (using the box to your right!) and leave a comment letting me know where you would wear these fabulous shoes! The competition is only open for 1 week, and closes at 12 noon on Friday 13th May. The shoes are available in sizes 3-8: if you're the lucky winner you'll just need to let me know your size!

Want more chances to win Faith shoes? Faith are hunting for their biggest fan, and the winner will receive lots of shoes, a shoe named after them, AND become the official shoe blogger for Debenhams! Definitely another competition worth entering! So what are you waiting for? Enter both competitions now and win yourself some shoes!

Love, Tor xx

Claires Accessories Press Day

Hi guys,
For me, Claire's Accessories is a tween brand that sells cheap (mostly plastic jewellery) to pre-teens who love boybands. I had my ears pieced there, for the second time, when I was fourteen. You remember brands like Claire's, when you get a tiny bit older, with the same fondness I remember Just 17 magazine and Top of the Pops. So I promise you, i'm as surprised as you are that i'm writing this. But....There was much at the Claire's Accessories press day to lust over, and plenty I would definitely buy!

Claire's are trying to reposition themselves at the minute, and move away from their teenybopper reputation, and instead compete with the adult costume jewellery market. Their new collections are inspired by tribal, insects, and British heritage. Here's what it looks like:




I love almost all of the jewellery in the third picture, in particular the owl cuff, and the oversized gemstone ring. Can you believe this is Claire's and not Topshop or Accessorize?! No, neither can I.....
Love, Tor x

Daily wear: Back to Black!

Hi guys,
I've given up. I surrender. I can't make my summer clothes warm and wearable on these cold gloomy days. I also can't take looking at my untrimmed, rooty hair any more: tomorrow's trip to the hair dressers can't come soon enough! Although it's only from Primark (and I have several much more expensive real leather jackets, I love the way my leather bomber jacket fits. Whenever I throw this over an outfit (however boring!) I know it's going to look OK. Here's how i'm wearing it today:

Dress from River Island, Scarf from Beta Fashion, Belt from Warehouse, Jacket from Primark, and Boots from Topshop.

I am completely in love with these pixie boots, which I got from the Topshop outlet about three weeks ago. I intended to save them for next winter, but haven't stop wearing them since I got them. They rrp'ed at £65, but I got them for £20 BOGOF. Bargain!

On the bright side, the weather forecast says the temperatures are supposed to peak at 31 degrees this weekend...Maybe I returned to the dark side too soon!

Love, Tor xx

See shoes, Love shoes, Have shoes!

Hi guys,
I love shoes. It's a minor addiction of mine: I have more pairs than is normal for even the most fashion-obsessed woman, and I keep buying more! So you can imagine how excited I was when Sarenza got in touch and asked if i'd like to be one of their brand ambassadors and (drumroll please) review a pair of their shoes!

I already know the Sarenza brand, as I ran in their high heel race last December: such fun! Sarenza is an online shoe shop which sells shoes from more than 300 brands, including Carvela, Chloe, Irregular Choice, and great French and Euro brands too! There are currently more than 10,000 pairs of women's shoes on the site: it's a number so big it makes my head hurt!

And the best thing about Sarenza? No matter how much you spend (whether £500 on 5 pairs of shoes or £15 on one sales bargain) delivery is always free! I always resent how much extra delivery charge is added to your order when you buy online, so this is a definite bonus!


The shoes I chose were these amazing Carvela wedges. They look even better in the flesh than they do in the pictures: all warm tan wood, purple suede, and flecks on woven gold. I couldn't love them more if I tried. Walking in them is going to take a little getting used to, but I'm hardened in the ways of heels: I don't mind taking the pain to break them in!

It's my birthday next week, so I will definitely be wearing these beautiful creations out to dinner: i'm guarenteed to have the most gorgeous shoes in the room! I have a feeling i'm going to really love being a Sarenza brand ambassador!

Love, Tor