Coachella down Watchbell lane....

One of the questions I get asked when I say I own my own shop is "Do you get bored being in the shop alone all day?" And even though there are times when it is quiet and the day seems to drag, most of the time I have a great time, mainly due to the rest of the shop owners down Watchbell lane. We have our own small community down here :) On a sunny day you can catch us all hanging out down the lane, chatting whilst keeping an eye on our doors. I love it!!

There is one particular lovely lady who keeps me sane (well I think we keep each other sane) and that is the gorgeous Suzy. She owns a shop called My House, (check out her website here) which sells beautiful, unique and quirky bits for your home. She's extremely creative, making amazing pieces for the shop and creating stunning window displays. 

As you all know I love fashion and love choosing my outfits in the morning....when leaving Topshop I was worried I would feel less motivated to make an effect, but every morning Suzy and I check out each others outfits and give each other inspiration.

 The other day Suzy came to work in this cute Coachella inspired outfit......

 

 

The Clock pendent above was Suzy's Grandmothers.  

 

 Her rings are from her own shop (she has a gorgeous selection of jewellery) and her watch is from May 28th @ Urban outfitters.

 

 Her boots really finish off the outfit perfectly and at only £15 in the Topshop sale, she couldn't go wrong really!!

Hat: With Love Betty

Dress: H&M

Clock pendent: Vintage

Rings: My House

Watch: May 28th @ Urban Outfitters

Boots: Topshop

A few days later I was inspired to create my own Coachella inspired look.....

 

 

 My dress is from Topshop, years ago. I actually wear it backwards so the V is at the back instead of at the front. I saw a picture of someone at Coachella, she was wearing a backless dress and had worn her necklace the other way....I loved it so tried it for myself. What do you think?

 

I love wearing white or cream in the summer and really love crochet & lace so this dress is the perfect dress for me!! As for my rings....I got the turquoise one from Brighton & the thin silver ones from Etsy.
 

My boots are also from Topshop.

  I know your probably thinking, wow she has a lot of items from Topshop, but after working there for 10 years and getting a uniform allowance, I have accumulated quite a Topshop collection. 

Dress: Topshop

Necklace: Dorothy Perkins

Rings: Brighton & Etsy

Boots: Topshop

What do you guys think of our Coachella inspired outfits? We would love to hear your feedback :) Now all we need is a festival to wear them too!

Thanks for reading and carry on enjoying that sunshine this weekend.  

Summer madness

Wow what a week....the sun is STILL shinning, everyone is happy, happy, happy and With Love Betty has received some Fantastic news. As many of you know I opened With Love Betty nearly a year ago and even though it has been stressful at times, I have really enjoyed running my own business. Opening the boutique has enabled me to get creative in other fields and work with some amazingly creative people. So basically I get to do all the things I love on my own terms.....Loving life!! 

Well last week I received an email from the magazine Stella, which is the fashion magazine inside the Sunday Telegraph. They are planning on doing a feature on the Isle of Wight, a travel guide, basically showing the readers some of the best parts about the Island, where to eat, stay & shop. With Love Betty has been chosen as one of the places to shop :) I am beyond ecstatic about this. The feature will showcase With Love Betty to the nation as a hot spot on the island!!! Im still in shock that I have been chosen as I didn't get in contact with them, they found me :) They are not sure which issue the feature will be in but they hope over the summer.....So watch this space, I of course will let you all know when it happens so you can all check it out.

This is one of the outfits I wore last week whilst in the shop. I went for a boho inspired look that day with a simple white t-shirt dress with embroidered detail, matched with brown leather boots and rucksack. I love the detail on the dress and the fact the embroidery has been done in white thread, simple yet effective. Orginally the dress had fringing on the sleeves and hemline but I cut them off as they were so long and looked messy. 

My boots are from Topshop probably about 4 years ago. They are so soft and have worn down so well, which I love, they match my rucksack perfectly. Rucksacks are obviously massive right now, they look fab and they are extremely practical. I think I paid £7 for this racksack from the Chatuchak (weekend) market in Bangkok, Thailand...... love Thailand!! (You can read my post here on the Chatuchak market).

 

Hanging from my rucksack (for some reason you can't see it in the pics) is a good luck token from Vietnam. Whilst having dinner one evening in the beautiful village of Hoi an, a lady came up to us and asked if we would be interested in buying a good luck token, she said they will stop us from getting ill whilst traveling. Ever the cynical person David declined saying it was a load of rubbish. But I decided to give it ago (I was actually quite nervous about getting ill on our travels). Well what do you know for the whole 6 months I didn't get ill once, David on the other hand.....Well lets just say at one point I thought we were going to have to come home because he was so ill, and it was whilst we were in Vietnam!! coincidence?! I don't think so ;) 

The Buddha in the first picture looks over you and the tiger represents the year of the tiger, the year I was born. I love my good luck token, I wore it on my rucksack the whole time we were away and haven't taken it off since.

Dress: Old Topshop

Leather rucksack: Chatuchak (weekend) market, Bangkok, Thailand

Boots: Old Topshop

Sunglasses: Rayban

Rings: Etsy

 

Well that's all for now, Let me know what you think of my outfit and make sure you all enjoy that sunshine.

what im wearing today....

 It was extremely cloudy when I woke up and looked out my bedroom window this morning so I made an executive decision to cover up my legs (how very sensible of me.) I Rummaged in my jeans draw, which actually took a while, when did I collect so much denim?! I came across my trusty boy-fit jeans & thought today was the perfect day for them. Last year I was on a mission to find a pair of boy-fit jeans but couldn't find a pair that fit me perfectly. At the time I was Topmans brand manager here on the Isle of Wight, I suddenly realised maybe I should just try on a pair of men jeans....and what do you know they were the perfect boy-fit jean (and a lot cheaper than the Topshop ones). This is the second post I have blogged about boy-fit jeans from Topman, you can read the other post here. I like to wear heels with my boy-fit jeans, I find it balances the masculine and feminine vibe perfectly. Today Im wearing my new Topshop kitten heels which I purchased in the sale last week for only £25 :) I love the contrasting black & brown leather.

 

 

 

I purchased the blouse I'm wearing a few years ago from a small vintage shop here on the island (unfortunately its no longer trading.) This top always reminds me of my childhood, the material & embroidery are similar to items my mum would dress me in. I've also seen pictures of me sat in my pram as a small child being protected from the sun by an umbrella made of the same material and embroidery :) very cute. As for my hair, well I'm obsessed with boho hairstyles at the moment so ive been experimenting quite a bit. I get most of my inspiration from Pinterest, I have my own Hair & make-up board which you can follow here. I literally just brushed all my hair across to the left and then starting on my right side I started twisting whilst bring my hair forward for volume. I just kept twisting to the back of my head and then stuffed as many hair crips in as possible. Then before smothering it in hair spray I loosened a few strands to make it look more boho. 

Jeans: Topman £28

Top: Vintage 

Sandals: Topshop £25 in the sale

Silver bangles: Vintage 

What do you think of my outfit? any feedback would be great? how would you wear boy-fit jeans?

I hope you all enjoy the sunshine this weekend, its going to be a hot one :) 

Thank god for social networks!!!

Now personally I don't think I'm too bad at keeping up with social network trends. Facebook & twitter are the obvious ones, Ive been part of Instagram for at least 2 years and it is definitely becoming more popular. I'm obsessed with blogs, fashions blogs, lifestyle blogs, interior design blogs etc, I love finding new blogs to inspire my own work and imagination. I'm also slightly obsessed with Pinterest, although not as obsessed as some of my friends, naming no names but you know who you are ;) 

So I'm a little bit disappointed in myself that I have only recently discovered the social aspect of ASOS.com. This is a website I have shopped on for years and years but I only heard about ASOS market place about a year ago. When I spoke to London friends about it their response was "you are kidding we've been shopping on ASOS marketplace for ages, its amazing, get with it Gemma and get your stuff on there quick!" So I have done just that :) 

All items are available in store so you can still come in and try the item on, but this way you can shop whilst your at work or at home :) perfect!! 

After discovering and conquering the world of ASOS marketplace I then discovered ASOS's fashion finder. Now I love this, this is a social network for fashion lovers. A chance for you to share and show off your styling skills and outfit ideas as well as looking for your own inspiration by looking at everyone else's. Its fab! You set up an account and start uploading your outfits. You can search through the MANY outfit uploads of everyone else on the site and like, comment & follow that individual. Its similar to following fashion blogs or Instagram. Its great to see how others would style a dress etc completely different to how you would style it.

Of course I had to set up an account for With Love Betty. So now you can go onto the site and vote for your favourite With Love Betty outfit. Its a great idea. 

Make sure you check it out, even if its just to get some inspiration. Just click on "outfits & looks" on ASOS.com or follow the this link: http://fashionfinder.asos.com/user/With%20Love%20Betty/profile

I hope now you all feel inspired to get your camera out, grab some friends and start clicking!! Oh and a big thank you to my stunning models.

Let me know if you already use ASOS as part of your fashion fix. Are there any other sites you think I would find useful? Also let me know which outfit you like best :) Oh and also let me know if you do create an account so I can follow you :)

Thanks for listening.

With Love.......

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