My Best Dressed Women of 2013

I've always been obsessed with celebrity style but this year especially, I really got into keeping up-to-date with what the stars are wearing and noting their outfits down so I could come up with something similar myself! Not only do these ladies look fabulous on the red carpet when they've been styled by another but they all have amazing everyday style and an eye for fashion. I've compiled this list as it sort of represents what fashion I'm into too as these are my favourite looks of theirs! I will add that this list is in no particular order!

Allison Williams

By far, this is my favourite look of hers this year. The Girls actress wore this diamond-encrusted black Kaufmanfranco number to the Grammys and looked stunning. She's done a lot of strapless gowns this year on the red carpet but this is the pick of them all; I love the way it fits her figure perfectly! Finished off with sparkly earrings, a couple of cocktail rings, cascading curls and smoky eyes, I cannot fault this look.

Jessica Alba

Don't get me wrong, I love her red carpet style but I am so obsessed with her everyday style. I like that she can wear a monochromatic look one day and then the next day she'll switch it up and wear a load of colour. She's a massive fan of coloured skinny jeans and flats which are perfect for the school run! Only this year have I really started to appreciate her dress sense and now I follow her fashion very closely.

Jessica Lawrence

This was Jennifer Lawrence's year. I am literally obsessed with the woman right now; she is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood as is her style. This was her Oscars in this white Dior Haute Couture gown. The look is flawless from head to toe as is the lady wearing it. The fact that she fell up the stairs on the way to collecting her Best Actress trophy makes me love her even more. I hope she continues to shine in 2014!

Lily Collins

Lily Collins has owned street style this year! I love how she can rock jeans and boots and do so all the time! She always looks so chilled and stylish when papped and so put-together with her clothes. Her red-carpet style can be a bit out-there sometimes but I think she looks fabulous!

Miranda Kerr

Another woman's street style I'm in love with is Miranda Kerr's. Similarly to Jessica Alba, being a mum means comfortable and easy fashion and boy does she know how to dress. I know she's a model and will have had loads of advice and that but she manages to make every item of clothing look impeccable. I like how she can rock a jean, a skirt, shorts, a dress, literally anything looks good on her!

Ashley Madekwe

A fellow blogger! Of course she is also an actress but she is a style blogger and I am an avid reader! I like that she wears a mixture of high street and designer and isn't afraid of some colour. Definitely one to watch in the years to come!

Hailee Steinfeld

At a mere 17 years of age, Hailee is always up high on the fashion lists. Here she is at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood party in an Armani dress which is actually midnight blue with A Maje shirt around her waist. Yes the dress would look cute on its own but I love how she takes risks with fashion and the shirt makes it look young and cool. Fashion points to you, Miss Steinfeld!

Olivia Palermo

Olivia has been one of my style icons for ages ever since I saw her in The City as Whitney Port's nemisis. Her street style is always so polished, which it should be for someone who works in fashion! She is the best accessorised woman on the planet; she is always armed with sunglasses and a fabulous handbag!

Selena Gomez

Selena just always seems to get it right on the red carpet! I love how now she's 21, her style has matured too and she's starting to dress her shape well. And she's starting to take more risks which is great to see! She has an amazing figure, so why not show it off?! I can only see her style going from strength to strength as she gets older.

Taylor Swift

Oh my idol. As most of you will know, I worship Taylor Swift. I love everything about her including her style! She's started experimenting a bit more this year with different necklines and hemlines and still continues to look elegant in anything she wears. I love her street style just as much as her red carpet style and it's very rare I don't like one of her outfits. Biased? I think not! ;-)

Maisie Williams

Maisie is definitely one to watch in the coming years. She's only 16 and already a part of one of the biggest TV shows right now, Game of Thrones. She's not often papped because she's a hard-working girl but I expect we'll see more of her soon!

Clemence Posey

What a fashionista Clemence is! So effortlessly stylish, must be the French way I guess! It's not often you see her on a red carpet apart from fashion weeks but I think that makes her appearances even more anticipated! Just so cool.

Rachel Bilson

I've been a Rachel Bilson fan for years, ever since she starred as Summer in The OC. I think the main reason I love her style is because we're a very similar body type and height. Saying that, clothes look a lot better on her than they do me! She loves denim and her street style never looks out of place. Uber-chic.

Lea Michele

So Lea has had a tough year this year. With the death of Cory Monteith she hasn't featured on many red carpets since which is understandable. However, I've followed her style since Glee started and have been so happy with her style evolution. She knows how to dress her body type and this outfit is one of my favourites. I think it's because it's versatile for many occasions and I could easily put a similar outfit together myself! I love her character Rachel's style on the show too as well as Lea's personal everyday style.

The Jenner Sisters

I'm sorry but these two are the most stylish in that family! I love their everyday style just as much as their red carpet looks and know they will continue to impress me as they get older. I like how they share clothes and are already that stylish that they've designed their own range of clothing for PacSun. What I like even more is that they actually wear the line as seen above!

The Girls of Pretty Little Liars

I know it's technically cheating but I love all 4 of these girls style equally! The show has catapulted them to stardom which means various red carpet events, at which all of them look fabulous, and regularly being papped doing everyday things! Either way, all 4 look super-stylish whatever they're doing and I imagine they'll continue to do so!

2013: My Year in Review

So 2013 is coming to a close which gives me a chance to reflect on how good/bad my year has been. I hope all of you reading this have had a lovely year and I hope next year is even better!

January was a pretty dull month for me with studying for exams and doing very little for my birthday.

February, I went to see All Time Low in Birmingham with my best friend Amy. We had very little time to do any shopping when we were there so we've said we'll definitely have to go back there at some point! Later on that month, we went to see the touring production of Hairspray at our local theatre and it was amazing! Mark Benton was so good as Edna Turnblad as was Marcus Collins off of the X Factor as Seaweed.

March, I pretty much spent the whole month concentrating on uni and revising for exams. I'm very serious about my grades, people!

April was the month I said Adios to my job at Card Factory, which I'd had since I was 16 and Bonjour to my new job at Clarks, the shoe shop!

May, pretty much the same as March- revision and exams, waaaaah!

June was the month I really got into fitness and working out most days. How times can change!

July, I went away to Chester for a week with my parents. For a family holiday, it was actually rather fun!

August was another fitness month for me. Fitness and lots of shifts at work :(

September, I took my mum to London for her 50th birthday. In 3 days we managed to fit in Wicked, sightseeing, Madame Tussauds and a whole load of shopping!

October, I went to my first gig on my own after being stood up by a certain someone! Thankfully Canterbury made me forget about my shit life for a couple of hours with their awesome tunes! What a band! I also decided that in my second year at uni, I was going to make more of a effort on the social side by joining the Performing Arts society. This turned out to be my best decision of the year. I mean, I don't go to the socials but it has rekindled my love of performing! The end of this month also saw the start of the Rugby League World Cup. Despite only going to one game, I tried to watch as many as possible on the TV and thought the whole tournament was a massive success!

November was a manic month with society rehearsals, uni and work but then near the end, I did manage to find some time to date. I've been keeping it quiet all this time because I didn't want to jinx it but I have started seeing someone and our first date was in November. We had a lovely night bowling and chatting, it felt very relaxed for a first date! The day after I managed to squeeze in a gig with my dad and Amy, Nickelback in Leeds! In November I also made my second trip to London for the year with my best friend Ellie. We had a fab time at the Harry Potter studios and watching Les Mis and spent the majority of the other 2 days shopping!

December, rehearsals went up a notch for the show which was on the 10th and it went amazing! I'm so proud to be a member of the society! I've also managed to squeeze in a couple more dates with my guy and things are getting pretty serious now. Hopefully 2014 will be a good year for us!

Despite all of this, I have had a tough year. I've been coping with various physical and mental illnesses and having my feelings go up and down constantly has not helped. As soppy as it sounds, I'd like to thank those that have stuck by me throughout the year (you know who you are) and those who I've met towards the end of the year who now mean a great deal to me. I might not have had a huge year in terms of plans but I have learnt a lot about myself and what I want in life. I'm not big on resolutions but next year I aim to stick with my fitness habits and enjoy myself more; sometimes I get so stressed out with uni and work that I forget about all the other good things I have in my life! I also want to make more memories with my friends and to see them more! We're all so busy with our own lives, we need to make more time for each other! So this year has been a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions for me; I'm hoping next year will be a bit more steady so I can start to enjoy who I am and where I want to be.

My November in Pictures: Part 2

So I wanted to do a special blog post about my recent visit to London. One of my best friends and I travelled down on the Thursday and came back late Sunday evening. It was such a fun trip and we managed to squeeze so much into a short space of time!

Thursday
On the first day, we arrived in London at around half 1, unpacked at the hotel (Travelodge Kings Cross) and went straight into the heart of London. We ended up just walking up and down Regent Street first and having tea at an Italian restaurant. Never again. The massive poster outside said "£12.95 for 2 courses" which we didn't think was too bad. Then when we got inside we realised there was a 12.5% service charge on top of that! The restaurant's just by the Piccadilly Theatre which is currently showing Dirty Dancing on stage. The food wasn't too bad for me but my friend was not impressed. On the night, we had tickets to see Les Mis. The show was incredible but as you can see on the photo below, our view was very restricted and because quite a bit happened in the bottom left of the stage, we missed a chunk of the show! I'd recommend getting more central tickets specifically in that theatre!

1. Adios Hull!
2. The Queen's Theatre in London :D
3. Our view for Les Mis!

Friday
This was the main reason for taking the trip to London- the Harry Potter Studios. After a delayed train, we managed to get there from Watford Junction station via the shuttle bus (only £2 return!) and spent a few hours there. We were booked in for 10 and left around 2ish. I'd hoped we'd be there longer but I was actually a bit disappointed by the tour. I felt for the £29 entrance fee plus all the travel expenses, there could've been more. Yes, there were a lot of props and costumes but I felt something was missing. The highlight for me was right at the end when there is a makeshift Ollivander's wand shop and there are thousands of boxes on the wall and they are emblazoned with cast and crew members names. Anyone who has helped on a film has a box there. We spent about half an hour scowering these boxes for various names and found most of the cast!After a trip back to the hotel, we ended up shopping for a bit on Oxford Street and getting halfway up the left side up to Forever 21 and then gave up, went to Wetherspoons and went back to the hotel.

1. En route to Watford Junction for the Harry Potter Studios!
2. My ticket

1. Sian Reed, Slytherin student.
2. Ellie and I waiting in the cinema room ready to enter the studios
3. & 4. Selfies in the Mirror of Erised.

1. I'm a bit of a loser.
2. Look out!
3. Everyone always says I look like Katie Bell!
4. They didn't have any jobs going unfortunately.

1. Hogwarts looks so pretty at Christmas
2. Ellie and I outside Hogwarts

1. I asked for potato wedges at McDonalds and got a few fries thrown in. Bonus!
2. The Lock In Your Love wall in Gap. #selfish #mememe

Saturday
This was probably my favourite day. Having been to London a couple of times before, I'd never actually been to Camden. So off we went there; unfortunately, the tube wasn't running to Camden so we had to walk but it was worth it. I could've spent hours wandering through the market and we found the best bargain of our trip there too- a £4 mix and match Chinese takeaway. It was heavenly! After that, we hoped on a tube to Knightsbridge to go to Harrods. Then because the tube lines from there were either jammed or not working at all, we decided to walk our way back to Oxford Street via Hyde Park then continued shopping on Oxford Street and managed to finish the whole left side. After a tiring day, we couldn't wait to go to sleep!

1. The amazing clutch bag I found in a boutique in Camden. #obsessed
2. The new rings I bought in Camden market.
3. Our freebies from the streets of London Praise you Jesus.
4. Harrods!

Sunday
We managed to scour every shop we wanted to on the right side of Oxford Street in only a few hours so we ended up going back down Regent Street. By 4pm we were knackered so it was time for Nando's. Whilst we were in there, we were seated next to a mother and son from Hull. It was so strange to be away from home and here that delightful Hull accent. They were lovely and we ended up chatting to them for a couple of hours. After seeing an old friend in Kings Cross before our train, we boarded and very nearly fell asleep on the way home!

1. Ellie and I before we set off for our last day in London Town.
2. Destination Christmas= Selfridges.
3. Obsessed with these Costa cups!
4. Sad to be going home :'(

I think for a four day trip, we managed to get a lot of activities in; that's why we both took the Monday off work/uni! It wasn't the cheapest trip but it was definitely worth it!

My November in Pictures: Part 1

So I'm a bit delayed in blogging because I've been so crazy busy with uni and work and rehearsals for my society at uni! Now I only have one more assignment and then I am done for this semester (well other than revision for exams) so now I can breathe a sigh of relief that I have more free time! So here is part 1 of my November plans!

1. My amazing new heels from Matalan which are actually a Christmas present, gutted I can't wear them beforehand!
2. A selfie because I was bored and tired. Story of my life usually!
3. A book I spent a full night reading just so I could understand Victorian novels easier. (I'm doing an English Literature module at uni and I have no idea why I picked it!)
4. A pre-workout/yoga pic. Think this was probably the last time I did any exercise! As you can tell, my body needs a lot of work!

5. This photo was taken before my tap rehearsal at uni. I'm part of the Performing Arts society and we're doing a tap routine to Fat Sam's Grand Slam from Bugsy Malone in it!
6. The delightful cake my daddy and I made. It's a chocolate cake with a million and one chocolate sprinkles on the top!
7. The view from one of the cafe windows at uni. I was just sat there drinking my hot chocolate and thought I'd capture it. No filter either!
8. Another selfie, just because I can.

So there was the majority of my November, next installment will follow soon! :)