It's March 2020, the UK is in lockdown, everyone's dining room table has turned into a makeshift office and the supermarket shelves are bare. The world has gone mad. Still, all jokes aside, we are living in a global pandemic - something I thought I would never witness during my lifetime. The Coronavirus has spread across the world at an alarming rate taking no prisoners. As our health care professionals and scientists work tirelessly to care for the infected and try to find a cure, it is apparent our lives have been totally turned upside down  due to the outbreak of COVID-19. But, I won't go on as I'm sure you're up to your eyeballs with all news and social media channels discussing the same thing.

As most of the nation practice social distancing and have began working from home all clothing rules have gone out the window. I'm sure - if anything like me - everyone has resulted in lounging around the house (office) in their pyjamas. Because who needs to get dressed if you're not going anywhere, am I right? However, lounging around in your pyjamas all day can lessen your motivation, to actually do any work, and advice suggests that getting up and getting dressed can actually improve productivity and make you feel more motivated.

So, I thought to lighten the mood - and distract you from the bleak narrative of the media - I would style some lounge wear for all of you whom are working/self isolating at home. The oversized jogger trend has been around for a while and  wearing them outside of the house/gym is more accepted than ever. Also, I'm sure most of you have a pair of grey joggers lurking in your wardrobe somewhere. This blog post will include 4 ways to wear joggers so,  let's get you looking sofa chic while you WFH. The joggers I’m wearing in every pic are the Topshop 90’s oversized joggers in classic grey.

If you want to see more styling tips you can check out my How to Wear a Power Suit blog post - for when we are allowed to socialise again. I hope you are all staying safe and making the most of your time at home.

​Happy Sunday
(From a girl who is going stir-crazy)

- Edith Head

The art of power dressing emerged as a trend in the late 1970’s and continued to grow into the 1980’s. The power suit was originally adorned by women who were trying to gain authority within the work place - an environment which, at this time, was dominated by men. The idea was that by dressing like a man, in a suit that hid their feminine figure, women would gain respect and success in the workplace.

As more women became established in the working environment the aesthetics of the power suit began to change. Women no longer felt that they had to blend in. Female suits were created in different fabric and colours with different silhouettes - complimenting the women’s figure and helping them to stand out. Today, a power suit can be worn for any occasion - it is worn to make a statement.

To me, a power suit exudes confidence, sophistication and style. So, for my recent graduation ceremony I opted for one. I created an oversized silhouette with wide leg trousers and a men’s blazer. To dress the look up I styled the suit with a diamanté bag, some simple jewellery and a pair of heels as seen below.

The power suit never goes out of fashion, although silhouettes, prints and fabrics are continuously changing. The meaning behind power dressing has also changed. Women aren’t limited to wearing the power suit to work. The aesthetic has spilled into many different aspects of a women’s life and women can wear a suit anytime to feel confident and stylish. Below I have styled different suits which can be worn for different occasions.

So, there you have the power suit styled 4 different ways. A wardrobe staple that you can dress up or down depending on the occasion. Or, you could wear as separates - the options are endless. For more tips on styling  check out my blog 3 Ways to Wear Matalan in collaboration with Matalan.

So, I'm back with part 2 of A Guide to Island Hopping in Thailand. As mentioned in my pervious post, we island hopped around the southern coast of Thailand for 16 days. We visited 4 places in total and my previous post covers Bangkok and Phuket.

Koh Phangan - one of Thailand's smaller islands is home to the Full Moon Party. The island is so small, in fact, we had to get there by boat as there is no airport. We stayed on this island for 3 nights. This was probably one of the more relaxing parts of our trip.

Whilst in Koh Phangan we opted to stay in a little beach front villa instead of a hotel. We discovered these cute stone bungalows called C Villas - probably one of the most picturesque and peaceful places I have ever stayed. We chose the beach front villa which was complete with a terrace and a small private pool and a waterfall shower. The complex was located just outside Haad Rin, a 15 minute walk to the famous Haad Rin Beach where the Full Moon Party takes place.

The obvious suggestion would be the Full Moon Party. However, we weren't on the island at the time of the party. The island was really quiet and there wasn't much tourists which was actually quite nice. Although, we still went to Haad Rin Beach and had drinks and you can still watch some fire shows put on by locals. The beaches on Koh Phangan are beautiful and the sea is warm. As we were only there for 3 nights we didn't do much we spent most of our time on the beach/in our pool. At the beach there was lots of water based activities such as kayaking and jet skiing. 

For being so small Koh Phangan still had some really cool food places. We had an amazing breakfast at Bubba's Coffee - the breakfast tacos are delish! I would also recommend Soho - where we had the best Mexican food. We had a really nice candle lit meal on the beach at Coast, the resort right next to our villa. If you venture to Haad Rin Beach most of the bars there also serve food, although, mostly local cuisine. Before we got back on the boat to Koh Samui we stopped at a New York Deli style cafe called A's Famous and I had an amazing pastrami sub.

I think Koh Samui was my favourite island of our holiday. It was the perfect balance between the craziness of Phuket and the peacefulness of Koh Phangan. We stayed here for 4 nights.

We stayed at J4 Samui. Our room was small but modern. We had a walk in shower and they even left towels in the shape of swans on the bed (so I can't complain)! The location of the hotel was perfect - one of the main reasons we chose it. It was located in Chaweng, a 2 minute walk from Chaweng Beach. Chaweng is a lively area with lots of bars and you  are spoilt for choice with regards to food.

There is lots to do on Koh Samui. I would defiantly recommend driving to the other side of the island, to Thong Krut Pier, and renting a long tail boat for the day. We got a long tail boat to Koh Tan Island - an inhabitable island covered in greenery - and we snorkelled in the clear blue water. Afterwards, we took the boat to Koh Madsum. Koh Madsum is a tiny island and it is also better known as Pig Island. This small island is inhabited by pigs! You can come ashore, enjoy a Chang and relax with the piggy's. You can also find lots of Buddhist monuments such as the Big Buddha and Wat Plai Laem.

There was tonnes of nice food places in Chaweng. The Hard Rock Cafe had a familiar menu although it was a little pricey. We switched between the Coffee Club (I highly recommend the Nutella frappe) and Bondi Aussie Bar for breakfast. We had another amazing steak at The Shack in the Fisherman’s Village. Lastly, if you want amazing pizza at an amazing price then Spago Italian Restaurant is definitely worth a visit!

So, that was my final instalment of A Guide to Island Hopping in Thailand. You can find part 1 here! If you have visited any cool places in Thailand let me know in the comments!

Why hello there! I know I have neglected this blog for a while but at last, my masters degree is over and I now have the time to write again. When I submitted my dissertation in October my boyfriend and I went on holiday the very next day, to the magical country of Thailand, in Southeast Asia.

I have to admit this was one of my favourite holidays to date. We island-hopped around the southern coast for 16 days visiting 4 different places in total. The climate, culture and landscapes were all something I had never experienced before - which I think made it all the more exciting.

This blog post will be 1 of 2 (because there is just sooo much to write about). A guide to island hopping in Thailand - a little insight into our trip.

We stayed in Bangkok for 2 nights at the beginning of our holiday and 2 nights at the end as our flights to/from the UK landed/departed from the Suvarnabhhumi International Airport.

When we arrived in Bangkok, at the beginning of our holiday, we stayed in the infamous Tower Club at Lebua - which many of you probably recognise from The Hangover Part II. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. The customer service,  the rooms and hotel facilities were amazing and we absolutely loved staying here. We had a room on the 59th floor with one of the best views of Bangkok, looking over the Chao Phraya river.

When we returned to Bangkok, ahead of flying back to the UK, we stayed in the Sivatel Bangkok. Again, a luxurious hotel with amazing staff. Although, our room didn't have a balcony, but with floor to ceiling windows we still had another incredible view of the city. The hotel was complete with an infinity pool which looked out onto the Bangkok skyline.

Bangkok is one of the craziest cities I have ever visited. If you are looking for street food,  loud music, and lots of bars I would recommend a visit to Koh San Road - known for being home to some of the best nightlife in Bangkok. During the day, if you're searching for something more idyllic, I recommend you take a canal ride on a long tail boat. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, to the Temples of Bangkok. We visited Wat Pho and Wat Arun - The Temple of Dawn.  The architecture is amazing and Wat Pho is home to the reclining Buddha. The temples are a place of worship, and we even got to sit in on a monks' prayer session. If you're looking for something a bit different, and more adventurous, you should take a river taxi to the suburbs of Bangkok and visit the Aeroplane Graveyard. The aeroplane graveyard is a wasteland with an assortment of aircrafts that you can climb up inside and explore.

There are food carts on every street corner in Bangkok. If street food is your thing I definitely suggest heading to China Town. But, if your looking for something a little more sophisticated we had the best tapas at El Tapeo.

The next stop on our travels was Phuket. Phuket is Thailand's largest island and, I would probably say, one of the most westernised. We spent 4 nights here. 

We chose to stay in Patong, near Patong Beach. Patong is home to Bangla Road, the centre of Phuket nightlife. We stayed at Naina Resort and Spa, a short 10 minute drive from Bangla Road. The resort was all on one level, and it almost resembled a farm. It was quiet and idyllic, tucked away down a narrow road. Our modern room opened up onto the poolside and was complete with a bath. The staff were really friendly, and the buffet breakfast, overlooking the rice fields, was amazing (although we only managed to wake up in time for breakfast once).

If house music and drinks on the beach - with the best view of the sunset - are for you then I highly recommend Cafe Del Mar. We had the best day here! For the thrill seekers out there, we zip lined through the Phuket jungle at the Flying Hanuman adventure park. If you are not staying on the Phi Phi Island's during your time in Thailand I would definitely suggest a day trip to Phi Phi from Phuket. We got the 9am ferry, and it took a slight detour past Maya Bay - which is currently closed to the public. Once we were on Phi Phi we rented a Kayak and paddled our way to Monkey Beach - a beach that literally has monkeys on it! At night time, you should try and fit in a trip to a Muay Thai stadium for a fight. Muay Thai is one of Thailand's oldest and most famous sports. Lastly, Bangla Road is definitely worth a visit. There are lots of bars and even some huge clubs. We went to Illuzion - ranked 33rd best club in the world - and saw Nelly perform live (and then missed our flight the next day).

As I mentioned, Phuket is pretty westernised. Lots of American and Australian food options. One of our favourites was the Coffee Club, for their breakfast. We had an amazing burger from Prime Burger and had the best fillet steak from Mojo Grill and Bar. Again, near Bangla Road there are tonnes of  food stalls serving up the best of Thai street food.

So, that was the first half of A Guide to Island Hopping in Thailand. I will post part 2 next month. In the mean time, if you are looking for more travel related content you can view my 48 Hours in Paris - My Top Travel Tips blog here.

I am back again with my yearly review of the best dressed at the Met Gala. This year's theme was Camp: Notes on Fashion and from the pink (red) carpet and the giant pink flamingo centre piece to the multitude of extra AF outfits I think it's fair to say the whole night was definitely camp. 

This years exhibition consisted of 170 fashion items from designers such as Jeremy Scott, Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs - amongst others. The pink theme was carried throughout the exhibition and the words of Susan Sontag - from her essay 'Notes on Camp' from 1964 - featured throughout. Sontag can be noted as a key influence who brought camp into mainstream culture describing camp as an aesthetic. 

So now I will let you in on who I thought was the best dressed at this years event!

On the 18th of March I was kindly invited to the opening of the new Matalan store here in Aberdeen. When I arrived there was a mass of people queuing and waiting for the red ribbon to be cut. As shoppers entered the store there was a DJ and big balloons in classic Matalan red decorated the shop floor. As a guest I was given £50 worth of vouchers to spend in store on the day. I was surprised at the variety of clothes available for my age range - I used to think of Matalan as a 'mum store' but they have definitely upped their game.

On Wednesday I was kindly invited to a blogger event at the Aberdeen Body Shop store. The event was in aid of some new product launches and allowed us an exclusive first look - including consultations and advice from the Body Shop experts. As a loyal Body Shop customer I was excited for this event and curious to find out about the new products.

Finally, I'm back. Again I had to take a lil break from posting on here because I have been so busy! Studying a masters, working part time, being an intern, having a boyfriend and trying to have a social life is actually difficult, who knew?

Anyway, in amongst all of this uni work I (somehow) managed to escape to Paris for 2 days to celebrate my younger sisters 21st birthday. I had never been to Paris before but it is one of my sister's favourite cities. I was lucky to have her as my tour guide as we had such limited time so I have decided to share some of my top travel tips for anyone who only has 2 days to explore the magical city of Paris.

Who loves chocolate? I know I definitely do. So when Fairy Bakes Aberdeen - a new home bakery business - approached me of course I was more than willing to give their goodies a try. The main concept of the business is loaded brownies, and when I say loaded I mean covered with tonnes of chocolatey goodness.

Well, I'm sure you've noticed animal print is having a moment (unless you've been living under a rock). Yes, animal print has made a come back and it is bigger, bolder and brighter than ever! The catwalk was overrun by crazy animal prints at New York Fashion Week this month setting the scene for this key Autumn/Winter 2018 trend. Designers leading the way with this animal print trend included Tom Ford, Victoria Beckham, Calvin Klein and Carolina Herrera.