Bought! Portmans

Two quick buys from Portmans today, after originally going to hunt for some wedge boots (Rubi shoes smelt funny and cut in at the ankle) My friend and I ended up wandering into Portmans. I quite like Portmans, you can pick up some great buys in the sale racks, and bring fashion to office clothes.
First purchase was this cute sleeveless sheer blouse, I'm craving this sort of cut at the moment, I'll wear it with skinny jeans or shorts and a tank underneath.

 

Sleeveless Blouse by Portmans

Second of my purchases today was this chain embellished tank top. I like collecting feature tops, I find my top half to be where I want to draw attention, and this (mildly heavy) top does the job nicely. I can wear it over jeans, belt it,or tuck it into a skirt to toughen up something girly.

Pity I can't find any images for it!

Man grooming Yay or Nay

An article I recently read over at Bellasugar got me thinking, Man grooming. What a euphemism. I'm really quite glad that we're past that period a few years ago when men by the barrel load took more time to get ready then their more feminine counterparts, but it was nice of them to still get up and make a little bit of effort.
Take my boy, if I want him to look nice, I generally have to dress him myself. Otherwise it's flat hair, comic book character t-shirt and pants if I'm lucky. If I'm not lucky it's shorts, long socks and pull on shoes. Such a dag lol.
I just want a nice balance, where he does his hair and realises that the shorts and socks combo just isn't right. However, I would love to attack his eyebrows with a wax pot one day ...
Another example on the opposite end of the scale is my sister's Italian husband. My sister is frequently late to events because he's spending time making sure he looks like he's spent very little time. However he's imaculately pressed his clothes, blow dried and straightened his thick hair, trimmed his designer stubble and thought very carefully about what he's going to wear. The whole process takes more then a hour from what I can remember.
Just a little bit of effort please men! Not the whole sh-bang. If you are going to do anything, make it look like you haven't, and for the love of god, please put down my straightening iron!

Surly models

Has anyone else noticed an influx of surly looking models in advertising campaigns recently? I went shopping with a friendi Cue last week and I was taken aback by the scary looking girl in the posters. such a scowl. It disappoints me because I found a lot of their clothes to be really interesting and things I'd like to buy but these pictures really turned me off completely.
See what I mean:

 

Cue aren't the only ones, Talulah also have a surly model:

These are just ones I've spotted today, email me if you've found some others.
Does it turn you off buying clothes as well when the models just aren't working for you?

Source

Nature inspired Wall lamps by Ikea

Another thing to add to the refurbishments when I get off my financially challanged butt and buy a house, how gorgeous are these lamps? The Ikea catalogue landed in my mailbox last week sometime last week and these are by far my favourite thing in there.

 Soder Wall lamp by Ikea

They also have a pendant lamp in the range.

 Soder Pendant light by Ikea

Cannot wait to move into our own rental again soon, started looking this week and the market is tight as (yawn, I know) wish me luck guys!

Loving this week: Agent Provocateur and What Katie did

I love new line drops at the start of the season, and I have two awesome ones this week, starting with Agent Provocateur. When I reach my goal and lose all my weight I'm going to splurge and get a complete set as (one of many) rewards. To me they really do scream that a woman is confident in herself and deserves to be spoiled. Mostly impractical to wear under clothes, but don't we all need something just for the bedroom? This is my favourite set for the new season.

Thora Underwear set by Agent Provocateur

The second range I want to mention is by What Katie Did, They have recently released their new season collection and the standout to me is this gorgeous Storm Corset. It's a newer style from them and is designed to hold in bustier girls, it also comes in a large range of colours.

Storm Corset by What Katie Did