Leopard print. Cosy. Furry. Pink.

I actually wore this outfit a couple of weeks ago. It's like I could tell that, a few weeks later, it would get right cold again and be all snowy and that I'd want to bust out some weather appropriate shit on the blog. Man, I am like so forsightful. Intuitive? Whatever.

But seriously, unless you're in Devon (and gawd knows those guys deserve a break after all the rain they've taken), what's with it being so cold again. Though, I must say, I'm a big fan of seasons behaving as they're expected too. The 10c in January stuff we've had recently was starting to freak me out. I thought Scottish summer had come early. It might have. That might be it over. *cries*. Anyway, should you find yourself in need of warmth on a chilly day, might i recommend to you this get up:

Hat: Primark, Coat: eBay, Skirt: Topshop, Jumper: vintage, Nike trainers: schuh, Necklace: H&M (present)

Double leopard print, in different colours? Check.

Cosy and appropriately loud jumper? Check.

Big bold neck-piece? Check.

I am good to go!

Yet, ANOTHER new trainer obsession. For realz. I mean, you put leopard print on the trainer and there's a good chance I'll bite...

Top and bottom brooches, New York vintage market. Middle brooch: gift.

Zara shoes and starring on the Shaun Keaveny breakfast show

Today I wore my be-YOO-tiful new Zara shoes...thirty quid down from sixty in the sale and I have been coveting them a LONG ass while. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I was a cowgirl.

Shoes: Zara, Skirt and Jacket: H&M, Jumper: Vintage, POW Necklace: Hannah Zakari. Yes, I looked tired, nay, shattered, and a bit bloated. First day at work after Christmewyear. It's allowed.

And promptly busted the heel between paving stones. The hazards of wearing beautiful suede covered heels outside. At all. Still, better to get them out there and have them end up a bit busted than to hide them away

Today is also the day that yours truly was a star guest (I use that phrase very loosely) on the BBC 6 Music Shaun Keaveny breakfast show! If you were listening this morning and heard Llara from Edinburgh praising the snipping tool (excellent computer programme), being asked to repeat "compu'er" in a wee Scottish accent and getting Kasabian's Cutt Off played, it was ME! FAME. Two minutes thereof.

POW!

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Resolve

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good one. I'm currently ploughing my way through yet more Christmas cake and wondering if it's acceptable to ease gently into real life eating again through the end of this week and to gradually lessen the amount of crap/alcohol I ingest and really get fresh from Monday the 7th. I fear if I cut the crap out dead, I'll go into a weird sugar crash coma. It'd probably be no bad thing - I think my body needs a shock. To be honest, I really just want to be able to finish the Christmas cake and I can't do that in the rest of today.

So, with it being New Year and whatnot, I figured it seemed a good time to consider resolution type stuff. And, to keep it nice for you and to thank you for reading my ramblings, I'll intersperse the chat with some pictures of my in neon stuff and spiky stuff. Fair deal?

Jumper: Primark (I'm away off to cut the tag out right now - didn't realise it looked so obvious and white until now), Skirt: H&M, boots: Jeffrey Campbell at Solestruck. I think I had a giant chin spot this day  - hence coy over shoulder chin-hiding pose.

Normally I don't bother too much with resolutions. I've lost count of the number of times I (or others) resolve to lose weight, see more of folk, drink less, join gyms etc, only to see it all go tits up by February. Oddly though, without any real resolution, I probably go to the gym more now than I ever have and I actually like it too. And, as a result, I'm probably the fittest I've been since my teens. I also lost a bit of weight last year too (only a wee bit, mind), without any goal or anything, so that was nice too. 

So, with health and fitness (my past resolution topics) in hand, this year I feel a bit freer to crack on with some other resolution type stuff. More for fun and enrichment or something. This is as deep as it gets people, fear not! Here's a close up of the shoes though, just in case...

So here's what I plan to do this year:

Read more. Books. I get through my magazines but, even then, I'm still on maybe November's Elle - at the rate I'm going, I'll be scowling over how last season everything in there is and at the fact that I've missed the TV shows, events etc that they're talking about. "But", I hear you ask, "how will you find time to read books when you're behind on your magazines, struggle to blog regularly and generally seem to be a pretty busy bee a lot of the time?". Good question, dear reader, I'm glad you asked! I realised this week that I spend too much time fannying about with my phone and scrolling through totally inane chatter on Twitter etc, when I could be doing much more fulfilling/rewarding things with my time. So I shall cut back on that for a start (not on words with friends though - that strengthens the mind for sure! LlaraG if you're looking for a new opponent). I also really need to reconsider the amount of crap telly I watch too. So, with cuts in both those areas, I feel sure I can get stuck into some literary fodder. On this, does anyone have a kindle and have any feelings to share on said device?

Get back into music in a bigger way. I used to be forever listening to music. I listen to 6 music all day at work and love it. I just plan to make more effort to seek out bands I enjoy and to get back into listening to more music at home. Which I can do as I'm reading! Yay!

Seizing days. I was at home the other night doing piss all and watching old friends re-runs. Then I discovered that it was the pre-Hogmanay torchlight procession in Edinburgh. I felt kind of sad that I was doing bog all when something so cool was going on. Plus, I have an epic new hip flask (yellow neon leopard print) that I could have had with me and everything. So, sometimes, I need to sit on my arse less and go out and do more stuff. Especially given that I live somewhere as awesome and beautiful as Edinburgh. That said, sometimes one does need a down day.

And my last one is private so I'm not telling you it!

Necklace: H&M

PS - totes planning to get in banging shape for Ibiza this summer too ;-)

Sunday shoe porn: somebody stop me!

This week, the shoe porn is all mine. Even by Llara standards, I've gone a bit shoe crazy in the last month or so. I've been too busy to blog them as they came into my life so I thought I'd round them up today. Ah, today. I'd describe what I've been up to today as "hunkering down". The forecasted "storm force" winds and driving rain landed in Edinburgh and it's been every bit as rough as predicted. So I cancelled thoughts of leaving the house and battened down the hatches. Quite literally in some areas - I have tissue paper stuffed around a point where a wire comes in through our window to hold back the leakage that happens when the rain pours!

And, so to the shoes. Last week, I showcased my beautiful Nicholas Kirkwood shoes. This week, all 6 pairs (yes, that does mean I've bought at least 7 pairs of shoes in the last month-ish. Some would be a bit disgusted by that. To them I say "bite me") combined cost less than that one pair so we're truly at the other end of the spectrum. And to really kick things off super bargain style, I picked up these shoes along with my grocery shop a few weeks ago at Asda.

I've always suspected that I was somewhat lacking on the snakeskin shoe front. That said, snakeskin shoes can often look really quite skankalicious and it's hard to find a nice pair that don't put me in mind of buckets of fake tan, too-tight shiny dresses and tranny style lip liner. However, the sweet almond shaped toe and mid heel on this pair struck just the right note for me: demure rather than manure, if you will. So in they went to my trolley. Want to know the best bit? They were £2 in the sale. That's a quid per shoe. 20p each per toe coverage. Insane. I can't walk away from a bargain that hefty. Powerless. So now they're mine.

Next up are these H&M stilettos. I've really gotten back into my stilettos again lately (and this time around, I will NOT sell them all on eBay! I will remember that fashion is cyclical and so is my taste and keep them for the future) and, once again had a sneaking suspicion. Which was that I likely needed a nice basic multicoloured glitter pair in my arsenal. So, imagine my joy when I stumbled across this twinkly pair for a tenner in the H&M sale. Woop! And I had a gift card - so, in fash-math terms, that means FREE.
. 

Next up, we have the most expensive purchase. My insane, sort-of-wedge-but-heel-less neon shatter boots from American site Nasty Gal. I saw a blogger wearing them some time ago. I can't remember where sadly. I'm sure I made some of sort of noise along the lines of "gnuarghhhhIHaveToHaveThem" when I first clapped eyes on them. Sadly, said blogger hadn't linked to them and could I find them anywhere? Could I buggery. But sometimes fortune smiles upon us. One of my colleagues was about to buy some shocking pink spiky efforts from Nasty Gal and asked if anyone else wanted to order anything and split the postage. Oh, and their shoes all had 25% off too. Donkey. Stick. Carrot. Other figures of speech that imply the ease with which I was reeled in. So, off I went, browsey, browse when: what should I stumble upon? Only the EPIC neon heel-less shoe boots that I'd seen on the blogger! I couldn't bloody believe it. And so, I was IN on the Nasty Gal spree! And on the off-chance that they're just SO your bag too, you can get them here. They don't call Little Scribbler helpful for nothing...

And so back to British shores. These shoes are from New Look. I'd admired them a few times but hadn't actually got as far as even trying them on. A plain black peep toe upper isn't really me (see the shoes above) but the watercolour-esque platform and heel caught me and I LOVE the shape of the heel - quite slim from the back but really wide from the side. It's got such a grace to its chunkiness which made me swoon every time I saw them. And, earlier this week I was in a New Look and they were down to £11 in the sale so it was rude not to at least try them. And they fit perfectly and looked awesome on. Done deal.

Next up, good old Topshop. Their shoes, by high street standards always feel at the upper end of the cost scale. That said, often they have really original stuff and you can see why they're pricier. I'd been eyeing up these stilettos for a good while but kept telling myself I didn't need them. I also kept not having £65 going spare so, really the conundrum "to buy or not to buy" was squashed right there. BUT (and spy a theme emerging here), they went in the SALE. Yay for sales! I was in my local store a few weeks ago and they'd gone down to £30. And then the ever so nice dude in the shop inexplicably gave me student discount too. I must have a studenty air about me. So I bagged them for £26, which I am most pleased about. The leather's so soft and glitter's so sparkly in such an understated way: it'll look a bit nothing-y, then the light hits and it twinkles like the night sky. Look at it twinkling away down there:

Lastly - yes, you're nearly at the end of this rambling and slightly obsessive collection of what now appear to be short stories. I thought the whole thing was going to be one short story. But no. I chattered on, as is my wont. Still, if you've made it this far, maybe you're enjoying the ramblings. And maybe, just maybe, you'll enjoy these shoes. I first clapped eyes on them in plain black in Urban Outfitters down in London. I tried them on but told myself to behave and that I didn't need spiked lace up creeper/flatform soled ankle boots. And I probably don't. But, I was online a week or so back and Urban Outfitters were doing 50% off their sale. Basically it was "please buy our dregs before the real winter sale starts". So it seemed rude not to take a look. Urban Outfitters' sale can be a magical thing. I got my neon pink Cambridge satchel from them last year for about £40 (they were still selling in Harvey Nichols for over £100 at the time) and one of my favourite pairs of ankle boots came from there for £20, down from £220. Yes you read that correctly - £20, down from £220. Insane. This time, I got a bra, a bumbag (no really. And, yes it will be up here at some point) and a hip flask. And these! £10, down from £55. That's 81.81% recurring, off, fash-mathletes! And they have leopard print on them! What in life is not improved with a splash of leopardy goodness? And, on that note, feel free to go forth and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Have a fabulous Chrimbo when it arrives!

Yes, I AM wearing my Camilla Skovgaard shoes

But, dear lordy, are they a bugger to walk in?! Yes, they are. The slim heel just does a weird catchy thing on the ground with every step I take so they make a strange noise and I have to really concentrate when I walk. Which, given that I'm a bit clumsy anyway and prone to the odd fall, is probably no bad thing.

Shoes: Camilla Skovgaard @ the Outnet, dress: H&M, Jumper: Primark, Necklace: Wolf and Moon.

The good thing about the shoes - nay, the great thing - is that they look epic. Look at that fearsome jagged sole! I'm probably doing an amazing ass workout every time I get up as I clench in my attempts not to fall too so there's an added bonus. And, as above, I can totally stand on one leg in them. Like a master. Look at me - just hanging out, chilling on one leg. Casual.

Please, be kind and ignore the slight Nora Batty-ness starting to creep in at the toe. Though show me a woman who doesn't spend half the day hiking her tights back up to where they belong and I'll...well, I'll shake her hand and demand to know where her gravity defying tights are from. Or if she's just got pants on over them like many of my pals do. I'm just a tights howker. You?

How to be a bag lady. Minus the bag...

Some days I look a  bit like a bag lady. It can't be helped. There's just some sort of edit thing missing in me. Like when whoever it was said that, before you leave the house, you should take off the last accessory you put on, I just can't do that. I'm just lacking in some kind of aesthetic vision. Therefore, I'll never be one of those dead chic minimalist folk (though, frankly, I wouldn't want to be) and it's more likely that I'll look ramshackle than put together - possibly because, regardless of what I've already got on, sometimes I just really want to wear a specific jumper or something and on it goes, without a proper thought about how it might look. So - here it is - my master class in how to get the bag lady look, without a single bag in sight...

Put on a pretty and summery vintage dress. Winterise with black tights...

...black shoes (Red or Dead from schuh)


...and a black belt. I can't remember where I got this but I enjoy the smoochy birds!

Whap on a giant shiny necklace. This one's from Primark.

And then...

Decide to wear a jumper (from ASOS) you love but that, with the dress, loses your waist and cuts you in half. Ideally you should have two, totally at odds, prints involved.

Then, for shits, giggles and warmth, cover it all with a parka (H&M). Ideally, if you can make like me and forget your eye make-up for that nice tired look, it works even better. I'm pretty fresh faced though and I'll take that!

How about we finish on the shoes again?

The EPIC cat t-shirt of awesome epicness

If you followed me on instagram (plug, plug @llarasnappedwhat. I'm bloody entertaining, as you'd expect) or Twitter (llara_has_2_Ls), you might already have met this chap...

It's a cat! With a crown, a red cape and a locket. I mean, he could be a queen, a superhero and a sorcerer all rolled into one by my reckoning.

But he's not real :(

He's just a print.

ON MY NEW T-SHIRT!

BAM!

cat t-shirt: eBay, coat: eBay, skirt: H&M, shoes: schuh

If I was you, I'd be so mind blown by its giant and immense epicness that I wouldn't bat an eyelid at the fact that Mr Scribbler's shoes are photo bombing me again or that I've barely a scrap of make up on, so drawn would I (as you, remember) be to the t-shirt. Cue pussy jokes.

I'd hoped it would be long enough to wear as a dress but it's not. And one pussy on display is quite enough, don't you think? I saw a picture of the t-shirt somewhere a few weeks ago and made it my mission to track it down. And track it down, I DID. It was only about £11 or £12, including delivery.

And, in the interests of not flashing anything inappropriate, I wore the t-shirt with a nice shiny silver mini skirt and stuck my belting H&M necklace over it:

And it seemed only appropriate to complement kitty with some interesting shoes. So I busted out these gorgeous gold wedges that I got for a song in the schuh sale last year. Stick on some socks (it's bloody freezing in Scotland, don't you know!?) and you are ready to rock and roll!

I think Mr Kitty approves...

Tell me a-boot it...stud.

Ahahahahaha! That's me laughing at how funny I am. Cause I'm wearing studded boots in this post. Anyone for an ironic ass MEGALOL. When it comes to LOLZ, I only ever do them with lashings of smug and superior irony. It's the only way. Do you want me to stop chatting shite and show you the shoes? OK then.

Boots from schuh

They're probably one of the best boots ever. They're called Bob, they're from schuh, they're a belting ringer for the Chloe ones and pretty well everyone has a version of them this season. I couldn't give a crap about my mainstream-ness though because they look so good and they're so friggin' comfy. I've worn them an absolute crap tonne since I got them. And, they have taken a battering so far and haven't shed a single stud.

One day I wore them with this lot:

Dress: Primark | Jumper: H&M

Gawd, I am looking a bit pasty. Best starting upping the blusher - I'm not likely to pick up any flush of colour (unless you count a ruddy cheek) between now and June. And in keeping with the cold theme, I went for blue nails. I am not a nail art girl. I have neither the skill or patience. If I can get a colour on and not chip it, I'm happy.

Topshop nail polish.

And finally: can I remember where this necklace is from? Can I heck. I don't think it was high street but I truly can't remember. All I know is that I don't much fancy smelling of Paris. Whenever I've been, it's been something of a whiffy place. I imagine Paris scented perfume would be a bit of a pumps and flowers type mix. Maybe folk would go for it...

Lady(like) in red. And Charlotte Olympia.

No kidding - I can do ladylike sometimes. Only sometimes. It doesn't sit that well with me because I am a naturally scrappy person. I'm a chipped nails, sliding eyeshadow kind of girl who's likely to walk into a wall or whack her hand on a door. Right now, my nails are polish free, thus chip free. Prior to that they were fetching bright orange glitter with some almighty chips. However, in spite of said scrappiness, a 50's style frock really suits my shape and I love a high heel. So sometimes I just bust out smart Llara for shits and giggles. Boom!

Dress: ASOS, Cardi: Primark, Necklace: H&M, Shoes: Charlotte Olympia

Tweet, tweet

Look at that. Elegant to a fault. And not just wearing any shoes, but actual posh designer shoes. Fancy! Yes, I love my Charlotte Olympia shoes. As with all my designer shoes, they were bought on sale and, my oh my, are they worth every penny! That said, I am stopping buying designer shoes now in order to save for holidays next year. My buds and I have decided that, before we get "too old" (whatever that means), we're off to party it up in Ibiza. I went to Ibiza heaps of times when I was younger but it was always for a chilled out time. Back then, partying in Ibiza equalled lurid drinks, unknown drugs and STDs. I didn't much fancy that. Now we're old enough to just be in it for the dancing so we're going raving AND doing some chilling on the stunning island. I'm excited and terrified all at once!

Lord know these babies won't be coming with me...