Summer is beginning to draw to a close and me and Charlotte have been eagerly awaiting this change of season. What's not to love about Autumn/Winter? Halloween, bonfire night, Christmas films, cranberry smokey eyes and dark lips... the list goes on!

So inspired by the dropping temperature I decided to experiment with layering outerwear pieces in neutral shades to switch up my usual leather jacket option. This textured cocoon biker coat was from Topshop a while back and adds sophistication to any look and to be honest this outfit needed just a touch to pull back from being full on Taylor Momsen...

My top is a UNIF dupe from Aliexpress.com, really worth a trawl through for bargains as my necklaces are both from the same site and were unbelievably inexpensive. I am wearing a Primark black bodycon skirt underneath the vest by the way, my mother asked the same question.

Here's to the start of all things Autumn!

We have all experienced that feeling where you invest in a Topshop piece, only to go out and find that every other girl you pass on the street is wearing that exact same thing. For this reason me and Charlotte have recently found ourselves disillusioned with high street stores and decided to explore the range of small businesses in our area. 

We occasionally wandered into Traders Outlet, a local store with different sections selling various jewellery, vintage furniture, handmade bath bombs ect but up until now we hadn't realised that there were also some fashion stalls such as Lady e bling, with cool pieces, much cheaper than you would find on the high street.

Charlotte is wearing a black oversized quilted shift dress with a kind of snake texture to it whilst I am wearing this white pleather cami dress. Both dresses comply with our usual styling comfort zones of black, white and leather so all in all a pretty good find!

We definitely recommend checking out the Lady e bling stall inside Traders Outlet to anyone in the Manchester area!

Dress: Handmade, Boots: Matalan? Shirt: New look, Necklace: Miss Selfridge, Bag: Cynthia Rowley, Watch: Ali express, Bralet: H&M

I have never been good at sewing, maybe it's because I always attempt something ridiculously complicated *throwback to the 3D structured telephone bag which now lies half stitched in my wardrobe* However, I had been looking for a casual summer dress for hot days so I decided to attack a Primark maxi skirt with a pair of nail scissors and ended up with this dress which I knotted at the back. Whilst my sewing is very amateur I feel like the rough edges work well over this caged back bralet from H&M and give the look a grunge feel.

The Miss Selfridge chain collar was overdue for a rotation in the cycle of statement necklaces adds bit of drama. I tied a shirt round my waist because you never know what the weather will do!

Finally I resurrected these extremely battered boots from Matalan which have practically no soles left and plenty of holes but they are the comfiest shoes I own so worth looking rocking the whole homeless-chic look for.

I have seen a lot of blogger bucket lists of action packed summers, yet in all honestly my greatest achievement has been mastering the Sims 2 open for business expansion pack and finishing The killing series four in 48 hours... I love doing nothing :)

Hope you're enjoying a relaxed summer x