back 2 basics

As of late I have been loving my staples. I would never go so far as to say I have a minimalist wardrobe, but my clothing collection isn't exactly large, so I have to get quite creative in trying to make it look like I'm not wearing the exact same outfit every day.

About a couple of months ago I picked up a plain grey tee which I quickly fell in love with. It's the most basic shirt you'll find but it's super comfy and there's virtually nothing in my wardrobe that it doesn't go with. That's when I started playing around with the clothes I have to see how many outfits I could make with the basics of my wardrobe.

I think it's quite essential to have basic pieces that go with lots of different things in your wardrobe, those mainly being in neutral colours (white, grey, black, beige, navy, etc). The thing that makes them so different is the combination.

The pieces I have that I would call my staples are:

• grey tee
• striped tee
• flattering jeans
• black cardigan
• denim jacket
• denim skirt
• black leggings
• striped dress

Now of course, you don't want to spend the whole week wearing the same two shirts, so I have a little collection of tops - mainly all of them are striped. This is the same for bottoms as well - I like to have a couple of pairs of jeans and leggings.

Another few items I'd consider adding to your wardrobe are:

• sunglasses
• flat shoes
• heeled shoes
• large bag
• small bag

Make sure these are also in neutral colours so that they fit with everything! This is the essence of having a capsule wardrobe - everything goes with everything.

A lot of these combination work well as day-to-night outfits. And last, but definitely not least, is accessories! I find that I like to express myself through makeup, so that's usually the bold colour for me, or I chuck on a large statement necklace to add a pop of something fresh.

for the effortless look:: grey tee, jeans, heels

for day to night I :: striped tee, denim skirt

day: black cardigan, boots, sunglasses // night: denim jacket, heels, clutch

for uni :: grey tee, denim skirt, boots

for running errands :: striped tee, denim jacket, black leggings, boots

 

For day to night II :: striped dress, heels

day: denim jacket, sunglasses, big bag // night: clutch

At least for me, the biggest difference between day and night outfits are the accessories and outerwear - you can hardly tell it's the same outfit underneath!

I hope this was as fun for you to read as it was for me to put together! Maybe this'll inspire you to stick to the basics in your wardrobe - it's surprisingly creative.

Much love,

xx Silje

opening of H&M perth

Ahhh! H&M has finally launched in Perth! It was only a year and a half ago that H&M came to Australia and settled its first store in Melbourne, before opening stores in Sydney and Brisbane. To say that people were excited for it to come over to the west coast would be an understatement. Perth's H&M opened its doors at 9am, but people had been queueing up since 6am, taking up most of the floor space available in that section of the shopping centre.

What's really lucky for me is that specific shopping centre that houses H&M just so happens to be right outside the train station I get off at for uni. Well, lucky for me - not so lucky for my wallet.

I invited an old friend that I'd be catching up with lately to the opening of the store, who gladly accepted, and we decided to leave at nine. Neither of us were particularly interested in queueing up at six in the morning. Especially not me, with my awful sleeping schedule, haha. My gran had offered to lend me her car for the day, but as we wanted to head into the city for another event (which was a total flop, but we got a free cinnamon scroll, so who's the winner here?), I thought public transport was a better option. I am so glad I did, as anyone who caught public transport received a $10 voucher to spend at H&M!

Once we queued up...

We received a free goodie bag! You may know that I love tote bags and use them for everything, so this was a happy addition to my bag family. Each one contained a bottle of water, a little pouch-like bag, and an umbrella. The last item was a bit of an odd one, but hey - free stuff, right?

The day was off to a great start. We had a DJ rocking some tunes nearby as we waited to get in, and it actually didn't take too long in the line. I reckon it only took twenty minutes at most, but it went pretty quickly. Before we knew it we were in!

There were some ridiculously good deals. I'm talking $2.95 tops. Seriously. Everything was very reasonably priced, and I managed to pick up a couple of items (cheeky spend) for a decent amount. They were just basics, and in all honesty I could have spent a lot of money there, but I controlled myself. Mainly because I don't have money to spend.

It was really nice to catch up with my friend too, even if it was so loud we could hardly hear each other. In fact, more than once I actually lost her in the crowd and had to look around for a minute before I found her again. It was ridiculously packed.

But that's okay.

The store is actually double-levelled, with menswear and childrenswear up the top, and womenswear and accessories down the bottom. It really had everything - jewellery, bags, swimsuits, workout gear, business wear, casual wear, shoes, underwear, the list goes on. Once I actually get a job I'm definitely going to have to go back because there was such a wide variety of things available for such great prices.

The line to pay for your items was literally almost as long as the line to get into the store. Some people had really gone crazy with their spending. I'm talking a full shopping bag full of stuff! I only went away with a striped tee (gotta love stripes) and a scarlet cardigan, but I was very happy with that. My friend bought the cutest phone cover, which had little cats ears on it and said 'meow' on the back. I was very tempted to pick one up myself!

Waiting in line ... to pay

All in all, I think it was a lovely opening, and a certainly very successful one for H&M. I also think it would be great for the surrounding businesses, as there were a couple of cafes handing out free mini drinks and little chocolates. I would've had one but I'm a poor little soy drinker. :(

I would definitely recommend you checking out H&M if you can! It's currently located in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and now Perth. All the addresses are available on their website.

And if you go - happy shopping!

xx Silje

PS. I am not sponsored to publish this post, all of this is just my opinion (even though it sounds otherwise).

Trainers

I've got to tell you, I love shoes, but I've never been the sporty type. I have my Converse and Vans for when I need something comfy to slip on, but I don't really have anything to go for a run in, except for a scruffy pair of trainers thrown in the back of my closet. Lately, trainers have been getting more and more colourful, which makes them easier to wear with an everyday outfit without looking boring, and the sleek black styles are great for matching with your current wardrobe.

These are a few of my favourites I picked up while doing my usual round of online window shopping. I'm especially loving the colourful Adidas shoes!

Which are your favourites?

xx Silje

Black and white stripe shoes
58 AUD - footasylum.com

Adidas shoes
100 AUD - gravitypope.com

Adidas pink shoes
140 AUD - selfridges.com

Gola white shoes
96 AUD - spartoo.co.uk

NIKE flat shoes
135 AUD - johnlewis.com

New Balance athletic shoes
58 AUD - kohls.com

Puma shoes
105 AUD - asos.com

Evening date

Evening date by faunalou featuring a tom ford lipstick

MANGO pink dress
63 AUD - mango.com

Forever New black shoes
forevernew.com.au

Rebecca Minkoff black handbag
355 AUD - sarenza.es

Tom ford lipstick
40 AUD - neimanmarcus.com

dots & stripes

Today is an outfit post! Which I have never done before so excuse my amateurism (is that a word?). However, I slept in a plait last night to keep my hair from knotting, and when I woke up I expected frizz and kinks, but instead I had lovely, bouncy waves. I know sleeping in a plait is the classic way to get wavy hair, but it usually doesn't work too well for me. Maybe it's the new shampoo I bought - works a treat!

I was just going to take photos of it for Instagram (you can click on the social media icon on the side to be lead to my profile), but then I thought 'might as well do my makeup', which lead to the thought, 'might as well get dressed nicely'. You see where I'm going with this, right? I ended up dressed and made up with nice hair, without anywhere to go.

That's when I took all the photos with an improvised tripod, a point-and-shoot camera, and a horrible drizzly sky. But my outfit was nice! It felt a little vintage-y which is why I decided to go for a 1960s filter, however on second thought it kinda looks like a twelve year old just got Instagram.

And yes, I am a total poser.

shirt: dotti // skirt: princess highway // shoes: emerson // hat: sportsgirl

xx Silje | Fauna Lou