Thighs & Tie Dye

Ah, Rat and Boa.....what would my wardrobe be like without you? I'm not sure that these photos really do a good job of showcasing this skirt, but I was rather limited with space to take photos...plus I didn't really feel like taking my camera out for a night out in Brighton - who knows what images would have been captured?! My guess is that it would have been something akin to the photo reel at the end of The Hangover. Anywho...this was another of my loose fitting outfits in a bid to reduce the pain of sunburn. The hat was added as something of an after thought - sunburn & straighteners are not a fun combination so I was forced to dig out the Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray and let my hair do its own thing. 

Hat - ASOS, Crop Top - Topshop, Skirt - Rat and Boa, Shoes - Primark, Watch - Marc Jacobs, Choker - ASOS, Necklace - Empty Casket

To be honest, this whole look panned out a little better than I was expecting considering I went for comfort and practicality above anything else. I think the best outfits are often the ones without too much thought behind them. I do, however, wish that my face had been a little less shiny, ha. I suppose there is only so much magic that make-up can do after a day of frying your skin though.

These photos were taken on our last night in Brighton, which was spent in an Open Mic night. I've mentioned before that my boyfriend is a singer/songwriter, so he got all excited when he saw a random advert for an Open Mic night just up the road from our hotel. Of course, I was forced to attend after dragging him around endless vintage boutiques and what not all week - but it surprisingly turned out to be one of the best nights of our "holiday". The Open Mic night in question was held in The Bee's Mouth - a bar I'd never even heard of. The bar itself was completely quirky and endlessly fascinating with an eccentric décor which manages to encapsulate both the weird and the wonderful; it just felt instantly cosy, particularly with the aromatic scent of burning incense in each of the dimly lit rooms. 

Anyway, as you can imagine, I get dragged to more than my fair share of Open Mic nights and music venues - and don't get me wrong, I really do love to hear new music from fresh talent; I find it both invigorating and inspiring. I love the sense of excitement that overcomes me when I hear something new which moves me in a way that radio simply can't. I feel lucky to be exposed to all of this raw talent; a musician's most honest and "real" material generally comes from the early part of their career before they get tweaked and refined to meet radio standards and regulations - there really is nothing better than seeing them in all their raw, vehement glory. The Bee's Mouth seemed to truly encapsulate everything that's good about live music; the amount of talent to be held within one small room was truly inspirational, and every single person there watching seemed to be truly interested and moved by each performance. Honestly, the vibe there was electric. I couldn't recommend it more as a venue - definitely worth a look if you ever find yourself in Brighton. 

Sunflowers & Sunburn.

There's a lot of things which make summer the best season of the year.....sunburn, however, is not one of them. The beach breeze in Brighton is absolutely lethal, I spent the majority of our first day lounging around in my bikini with goosebumps over my skin - I was adamant that my phone was lying to me and that the weather wasn't actually sunbathing weather, but I'm stubborn and continued to lay there in a desperate attempt to tan....and boy, did I tan. We all know that sunburnt skin is not chic; luckily my sunburn hasn't shown up too badly in the photos, but I assure you that even something as simple as sitting down became painful. With this in mind, tight fitting clothes were off the menu which meant I finally got a chance to wear this Motel Rocks sunflower print dress; it's loose fitting and something akin to a smock which is generally a style that I steer clear of out of fear of looking pregnant. I'm pretty short (5"4) so I normally wear something which gives me a bit of shape so that I don't look like a complete toddler running riot around the place; but I have to admit, I kinda liked the floaty shape to this dress in the end. I'm not much of a "girly girl" when it comes to dresses, I like to toughen things up with heavier accessories and chunky shoes but I left this outfit fairly minimalistic and I think it worked well for an effortless, holiday look. Obviously I couldn't resist layering on a choker and an Empty Casket necklace for good measure though.

(Dress - Motel Rocks, Choker - ASOS, Necklace - Empty Casket, Bangles - Primark, Ring - Primark, Sandals - Primark, Watch - Marc Jacobs, Anklet - Ebay)

I do feel as though I should draw attention to the fact that my legs are a completely different colour to the rest of my body - I am the most uneven tanner that you will ever meet, it's something of a curse. Also, you can get 20% off this Motel Rocks dress, or any other full price product on their website if you enter my discount code "RHIANSD24" at checkout. 

Brighton

(Hat - ASOS, T-Shirt/Dress - Rat and Boa, Bag - Urban Outfitters, Sunglasses - Peacocks....and yes, I am wearing a bikini underneath but nonetheless - hello buttocks, ha)

Apologies for the lack of posts in the past two weeks; I've been relatively busy in work and planned to catch up with my blogging during my week off in Brighton, however a lousy internet connection in our hotel soon put an end to that plan. Anyway, I'm back in rainy old Wales now, sporting a fetching stereotypical British sunglasses tan and laden with cheap souvenirs and a backlog of blogposts.

So....Brighton. First things first - I will admit that I struggled with the concept of not having a holiday abroad this year and acted like a true princess, resigning myself to a summer of fake tan and bitterness; but when I finally got a grip on reality and stopped being so negative, I thought to myself "why not have a good, old-fashioned, British holiday?" And thus - Brighton was booked on a complete and utter whim. And, do you know what? I can honestly say that it was potentially one of the best little holidays that I've had. I think we get so bogged down with the idea of seeing the world, adding all the exotic holiday destinations to the top of our bucket lists and ticking off all the biggies such as Thailand, Australia etc, that we sometimes forget about the sense of wanderlust that can be experienced so close to home. The UK has some truly remarkable, and beautiful places nestled within itself which we forget about due to an obsession with chasing tropical temperatures; some of the greatest places in the world are right on our doorsteps more often that not. Before I go off on a tangent here, I should probably add that I'm not trying to portray Brighton as a cultural, life-changing vacation on which I truly "found myself" or anything even remotely like that. My point is simply that the UK has a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing. So, here are a couple of my personal highlights of Brighton, and the things that defined my time there.

The Royal Pavilion. 

The Royal Pavilion is literally one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever clapped eyes on....it's like a mini Taj Mahal in the middle of a seaside village. It blew my mind that something so architecturally wondrous could be found tucked away next to a bustling town centre.

(Sunglasses - Peacocks, Shorts - River Island, Crop Top - Topshop, Shirt - Vintage, Bag - Urban Outfitters, Sandals - Primark)

The Lanes.

I have an innate fear of getting lost anywhere - the very thought of not knowing where I am makes me want to curl into the foetal position and cry until somebody finds me. Yet, even I enjoyed getting lost in the narrow, winding lanes of Brighton. The Lanes are basically a labyrinth of vintage boutiques, quaint pubs, incredible street art and antique jewellers. I'm unsure how the high street will ever compare to this charming array of vintage shops and jewellers. The Lanes have well and truly stolen my heart....a sentence which sounds more seedy than I would like it to. Oh, and the reward for finding your way through The Lanes? Choccywoccydoodah. Honestly, I cannot even begin to tell you just how good it is....it's essentially a cafe which serves nothing but chocolate. Literally thought I'd died and gone to heaven. You know that scene in Ice Age where Scrat dies and goes to a heaven full of acorns? Yep. That's basically how I felt.

The Pier

Brighton Pier somehow manages to find the perfect balance of being both shamelessly tacky and absolutely mesmerising. There's something quintessentially British and therefore heart-warming about the sound of the tireless arcade combined with the scent of fresh doughnuts on a sunny day. I felt so nostalgic walking around the pier and looking at all of the retro funfair rides, making my boyfriend waste money in an attempt to win a cheap stuffed toy which could be bought for half the price of what it costs to eventually win at one of those stalls...whilst I stood idly by - stuffing my face with a bag of doughnuts which were "to share" (totally worth the calories).

So, that's all I'm going to bore you with for tonight, I could honestly drone on about how awesome it was for hours, but I have decided to break my Brighton ramblings into a couple of smaller posts so that it's not too bulky because I've got some outfit photos which will probably become the focus of each individual post from here on out. So, you know what that means? Yep, you guessed it.... you have a whole host of these posts to look forward to - you lucky thing, you. 

Crochet Crush.

First things first....forgive the slightly lame post title, it's a Sunday morning and my head isn't fully in the game yet -it's days like today when I really wish that I liked coffee! I went for a couple of drinks with friends last night and as always, my poor time management skills meant that I was running around like a headless chicken by 8pm, screeching at my father to take photos as quickly as possible, so you'll just have to work with my slightly awkward posing for today. Given that I was running so late, I opted for quite a quirky dress that would do all the talking itself, detracting from my haphazardly slapped on make-up, so this little Rat and Boa number seemed like the perfect choice. Lightweight, summery and unique, it allowed the rest of my outfit to just fall into place fairly naturally - embracing my deeply hated natural curls (dubbed as the "wicked wave" by my father - cheers for that one, Dad!) which were touched up with a quick flick of my straighteners to tousle it all into place and cemented by the lifesaver which is Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray. All in all, I'm fairly happy with how this outfit panned out, although in hindsight, I'd probably team the dress with some chunky boots to toughen it up a little and add a little edge to it but that can be a post for another day!

Dress - Ratandboa.com

Gold cuff - New Look

Bangle & rings - Camden Market

Spiked necklace - River Island

Wishbone necklace - ASOS

Shoes - River Island

Bag - Primark

I think I've gushed about Rat and Boa in almost every one of my blogposts so far, but I really can't help it. For anyone that hasn't checked them out, I couldn't recommend them more. They have such lovely bohemian pieces which are often limited in stock figures, everything on the site sells out really quickly and they rarely restock the same items, so it's nice to be assured that you're spending your hard-earned cash on a really individualistic piece. It was just so lovely to go out last night and not have that recurring nightmare that often happens when you wear a River Island or Topshop dress for a night out....the dreaded realisation that somebody two tables across has the same dress on as you - it really is the worst! It's easy to change the look of a skirt just by wearing a slightly more unusual top with it, but a dress is often the statement piece in itself, that's why I enjoyed knowing that it was extremely unlikely to see somebody in the same dress as me last night, it was somewhat refreshing to stand out from the sea of bodycon dresses for a change. Could any of you recommend any slightly different shops to those on the high street? I'm always on the lookout for more ways to demolish my bank balance.

Curtains.

I have both good, and bad news. Let's start with the good news....I went to the hairdressers yesterday and she has reassured me that I am not going to go bald after my attempt at DIY ombre, apparently it didn't damage my hair at all and there were no split ends in sight. I'm not smug at all, honest. So, I'm now safe to give Loreal a big fat 5 star review. The bad news, you ask? Well, I embraced yet another hair change and opted to relive the haircut of my youth - the centre parting, AKA the "Martin with a centre parting" hairstyle as dubbed by my school back in the day. We were just so witty. The outcome? I won't lie, I feel like something out of a 90s boyband sporting some fetching curtains - I maintain that I could currently photoshop my head into an old photo of Boyzone and blend right in with those young heartthrobs. Don't get me wrong, my hairdresser did an admirable job as always, I just failed to take into account the ramifications of having a spectacularly large forehead. Oh well - you live and you learn, ey?
This is yet another quick outfit that I threw on, I swear at some point I will put together a more exciting outfit post. At least you can all see why my blog title contains the word "underdressed" now, though. I just love a casually thrown together outfit with a bohemian vibe to it - I've always felt that laid-back, understated looks are the most fascinating and inspirational of outfits. I opted for an oversized tee from Rat & Boa, teamed with some black skinny jeans with busted knees. Fun fact: this tee is supposedly a dress, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to brave exposing that level of flesh. Maybe I'll risk it come festival season, when I'm more suitably armed with a bucket of St Tropez for my pasty limbs.

Top/Dress- Rat and Boa

Jeans - Topshop (rips - DIY)

Bag- Urban Outfitters

Sandals - Primark

Choker - Asos

Necklace - Empty Casket

Watch - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Bangles - Primark

Stacking Ring - Pandora

Oversized Ring - Primark

Midi Ring - Primark

A nod to the 90's.

Mesh Jumper - River Island (past season), Skirt - Topshop, Watch - Marc by Marc Jacobs, Midi Ring - Primark, Ring - Pandora, Bracelets - Primark, Clutch Bag, River Island, Choker - ASOS, Boots - Ebay (JC Lita Lookalikes)

So, I had a bit of a moment in work the other day and decided to finally buy into the ombre franchise that's been hanging around the fashion world for a good few years now. There's something about dip-dye that makes me somewhat nostalgic to summers gone by...maybe it's the memory of all the cool kids in primary school whose parents would religiously and relentlessly spray Sun-In to the hair of their offspring until they looked like something out of a GAP advert....I wasn't at all jealous of them, honest. Ahem. Damn my toddler-self for her long, stubborn brunette locks that wouldn't even hold a curl, let alone a colour. But yeah - back to the point. I bought the Loreal Preference Intense Ombre 104 which was £6.99 from Boots. It was pretty simple to follow, even for a hair colouring novice like me. I staggered my applications because I didn't want to end up with an obvious band of colour, I wanted it to be as gradual and natural looking as possible. I applied it in 3 stages: 40 minutes at the very bottom, 30 minutes for the next layer which I took a little higher, and finally 20 minutes for the rest, which I basically just brushed through at uneven lengths with the nifty little brush that came with the kit. The results? A fairly subtle tint of colour through my lengths which has freshened up my rather boring hairstyle. I won't lie -  my hair was a little dry (okay - frazzled is probably a more apt description) afterwards but to be fair, it was in desperate need of a trim anyway, I'm going to the hairdressers tomorrow so I'll give you her verdict on the damage - but for now, I'm happy with the finished product, and will most probably be buying another kit to take it a little lighter in a few weeks.
After my fun day of playing hairdresser, I went to watch my boyfriend's gig down the Brewhouse in Cardiff, which is a bit of a local gem in regard to discovering fresh and upcoming music from some of the local talent. It's free entry and they host an "originals" night every Sunday from 7pm, which is somewhat refreshing in comparison to the majority of venues which will only accommodate to cover bands - definitely worth a look if any of you are ever in the area. I wore a pretty basic outfit, which ended up having a fairly 90s vibe to it thanks to my new ASOS choker. I'm really enjoying the grunge vibe that ASOS are encapsulating into some of their pieces lately, I find this whole 90s revival utterly inspiring. This season's fashion has been one of the best for a while in my opinion. What do you all think?
Oh, and seems as I just randomly dropped the my-boyfriend-is-a-musician thing into this post, I should probably link his music in the hope that some rich and influential producer should happen to stumble across this post and give him a record deal, thus making me rich enough to afford a lovely new wardrobe. A girl can dream, right?