Versatile Scarves - cheap way to mix up your wardrobe

It really has been great getting back into the swing of things this past week. I missed the noisy Neelsie at lunchtime, I missed all my friends, and I missed the yummy lunches my mom packs me every day! One thing I definitely didn't miss is the freezing cold Stellenbosch early mornings. Another thing I didn't miss is deciding what to wear each day.

A few nights ago, my mom came home with this beautiful scarf she had bought for R60 at Jet. Immediately I noticed that it would match with all three pairs of coloured skinnies I own. In one minute, I went from having zero idea what to wear the next day, to having to decide between three!

The pastel orange, dark purple and lilac jeans each brought out those respective colours in the scarf. All I had to do was add a neutral coloured top and my black leather jacket and I was A for away!

If you're clean out of outfit ideas, here's an experiment I did. 

I took a scarf that has more than one colour. Then I went through my tops and jerseys, and took out all the ones that matched the scarf. Tops that I would never even have considered wearing with that scarf ended up matching perfectly, and again, so many different colours and shades to choose from. With half the outfit sorted, all I had to do was grab a pair of jeans and a jacket to complete the look.

 

Suddenly, choosing an outfit at 5:30AM isn't all that difficult anymore, as I now have so many options to choose from. Scarves really aren't that expensive, and they can definitely make a difference in your wardrobe.

Here's an example. If I wore the first scarf (which is orange and purple) with my dark purple pants, and the next day wore it again, but with my orange pants, not many people would notice that I wore the same scarf twice in a row. If I bought an orange and purple top and wore it two days in a row, people would definitely notice. 

In winter, a pretty scarf can be the statement piece of your outfit: dark boots, dark jeans, dark top, dark jacket, and boom - pretty colourful scarf. In this case, recycle everything in your outfit except the scarf. 

Scarves are essentials in chilly Stellenbosch.

Scarves are essentials in my cupboard.

Have a good weekend!

Roxy X

Back into routine - easy, healthy snack ideas

Varsity started again today, and it couldn't have come sooner. Although I obviously love holidays, I am extremely glad to get back into routine. Not only do holidays steal my money, they steal my healthy-eating weight-losing progress.

When you're in routine, it is much easier to plan your meals and make sure that you are eating healthily. Because you wake up at the same time everyday, you can have breakfast at the same time everyday. In the holidays I sometimes only have breakfast at lunchtime because I wake up so late!

My friends used to make fun of me in high school (and they still do now, too) about how many lunch boxes fill up my bag. Has nobody heard that it's better to eat lots of small meals than 3 big meals per day?! Here are some quick and easy ideas for a snack at school.

Fruit
Taking an apple, banana or naartjie to school is great when you want something small and sweet - and they don't take up a lot of space! 
I don't know if it's just me, but eating an apple that has been cut into pieces just tastes different. Put some lemon juice on the apple slices before you put them in a lunch box, as this keeps them from going brown.
Don't forget about the other fruits hey! There are few things that compare to a soft, sweet, juicy pear. My mom also cuts up fresh pineapple for me, as well as kiwis when they're in season. Don't forget about fruits such as strawberries, litchis, grapes, guavas, nectarines, peaches, apricots, watermelon, sweet melon, spanspek, the list goes on.

Nuts
Peanuts and raisins are always good, but there are lots of other yummy nuts out there as well! Have you ever tried pistachio nuts? My word, are they divine. Cashews are a bit sweeter, and macadamias are nice and salty. Most Pick 'n Pays have a stand where you can choose the nuts you want yourself and scoop them into a bakkie.

Dippers
Carrots, baby tomatos, cucumber sticks, baby mielies, peppers - all of these veggies make super yummy dippers. You can dip them in cream cheese, a mixture of mayo and sweet chilli sauce, humus, or anything else your heart desires.

Fingers
This is basically a salad that you can eat with your fingers. All of the veggies I mentioned before, as well as gherkins, mushrooms, olives, fetta, blocks of cheese, cut up pieces of sausage, chicken nuggets, pieces of ham or salami - basically anything that's bite sized and not messy.

Provitas
My dear friend Zina got me addicted to Provitas spread with peanut butter. It really is such a fab teatime treat! 
Slices of cheese are also great on Provitas, as well as cream cheese or any other spread.
You can basically use Provitas as a piece of toast and pile on the ham, cheese, tomato - the works. The more, the yummier! 
Another favourite of mine is tuna mayo with raw onion mixed in. This spread on a Provita really is top notch. If you like green pepper, throw a few pieces of that in too.

Biltong
Who doesn't love biltong?! (my mom... haha - more for me!) Biltong comes in lots of different forms. You can have droewors, sticks, or just normal, plain old, heavenly biltong. Becuase it's a bit expensive, when I do get biltong I only get a few pieces, but it really is an amazing snack.

Remember to pace yourself, because eating all your food by first break and having to watch your friends eat sucks - and leads to you thinking you're hungry again (but probably are just lus) and you end up asking them for some. Eat when you're hungry, not when you're bored. 

Please feel free to send me your snacking ideas as well, I'd love to try them out and share them. 
Here's to a happy, healthy week of snacking! 
Roxy X

Fashion LookBook : Day 7 - sun's out, guns out

This outfit I wore last week when I went out for tea with my mom and gran - back when it was still summer! I absolutely love warm weather, so I try to take advantage of it every opportunity I get. 

This top I bought in Spain when I was on tour a few years ago, and I never really know how to wear it because it's over-sized which isn't usually my style. 

 I paired it with my favourite light jean shorts that my mom and I cut a few months back. I chose these shorts because if I wore navy coloured ones, the top wouldn't have stood out so much. I especially love the threads hanging from the edges of the shorts where we cut them!

To make the top more fitted at the bottom, I took the top between two fingers where the bottom seam and side seam met and twisted it (on both sides). The more I twisted it, the tighter the top became along the bottom. When I was happy with how it looked, I tucked the two twisted pieces neatly into my front pockets. Because the top is so big and loose, it hung over the pockets a bit and you didn't even notice the tucked in bits.

My summer statement is always white Tommy tekkies. I have decided to spend my next pay on new white and black Tommys because they are so practical and match with everything. White Tommys make your legs look more tanned! In these pictures though, I am very NOT tanned... bring on the summer! 

If you're back at school, all the best. If it's your last week of holidays, make the most of it!
Roxy X

Fashion LookBook : Day 6 - optical illusion

This outfit I actually wore on Monday, when two of my oldest friends and I went out for coffee. The outfit started off with me deciding to wear this super cute blue zigzag top that I haven't really worn before.

I bought this top on sale at Jet for R30. Because the patterns are so quirky, and of course the low price, I couldn't resist. Unfortunately, influences like these sometimes cloud our judgement. This top is a lot shorter than any top I'd usually wear. Because I'm tall, my torso is too - surprise surprise! If I lift up my arms, the top lifts up over my tummy. 

I have tried to wear this top numerous times, but to no avail. This time, I paired it with loose, cotton pants as it was a nice sunny day. Because the top is short, I first attempted wearing a longer length jersey. This had the opposite effect of what I intended. The long jersey just made the top look even shorter and more awkward. The shorter jersey made it look normal, and you don't even realize how short the top is. 

Another trick - which I clearly forgot to do before taking the photos - is to pull/roll your sleeves up to make them three quarter length. This makes my arms look shorter. In these photos, the jersey is pulled up a few inches above my wrists, making the jersey seem too short, and my arms look even longer.

I took the time out to mix and match, and because I did that, I found an outfit I loved. I was able to wear my too-short-top, and I felt comfortable whilst wearing it. Coolest of all, I learnt a new trick!

Here's to all the tall kids out there who feel my pain

Roxy X

Quickie #3

If you were considering going shopping anytime in the near future, I definitely recommend doing it soon! Here is a quickie about sales in Somerset and Tygervalley Mall.

Diva : up to 75% off selected jewelry, definitely worth going to see what's cheap and pretty.

Pick 'n Pay Clothing : mad sale on, and it's like a scratch patch. The deeper you scratch and the more time and effort you put into it, the more rewarding it will be.

YDE : up to 50% off, my best friend got a great pair of earrings at half price.

Truworths : jeans in all colours on sale, as well as lots of other clothes. Although they're on sale, they're still pretty pricey. 

Foschini : basically the same as Truworths.

Edgars : 50% off all knitwear, which makes them actually affordable! Also has sale racks like in Pick 'n Pay. There's also sale on Forever New jewelry.

Woolworths : I never went in, but I saw a sign in the window saying 25% off.

Cotton On : Somerset West has lots of 2 for the price of 1, and lots of summer shorts and skirts on sale. Tygervalley has lots of t-shirts on sale for R50. Some infinity scarves / snoods are on sale for R40. Most small items like jewelry and sun glasses are on sale.

Rather buy on sale and get 2 or 3 items for the price you would've paid for 1! Happy shopping
Roxy X

Fashion LookBook : Day 5 - Lend From a Friend #2 / leather biker jacket

Like just about any girl in the world, I have hundreds of clothes but can never find anything to wear. Thus, I have started raiding my friends and family's cupboards. I particularly like doing this because I don't like wearing the same outfit twice. By borrowing something, you return it after use and never have to see it again! 

I have a few 'statement pieces' in my cupboard. By this, I mean an item of clothing that stands out and is memorable. For example, I have this stunning burnt orange top I bought on sale at Edgars that I wore to my 19th birthday party. Because we took a trillion photos that night, I have only worn it once since then because it feels like everyone has already seen it. If you borrow something from someone, this problem is eliminated. I'm working on new ways to wear that top though, because I really do love it!

Yesterday, we had a girls coffee date in Stellies. I bought this top from Barcelona for my cousin a few years ago, and found it in her cupboard recently. I only buy things for other people that I like, so naturally I asked to borrow the top. Because we are different sizes, the top sits weird on me. It's too long to be a top and too short to be a dress. If I tuck it in to pants it looks weird, and if I fold the bottom up to make it shorter, it looks frumpy.

I didn't give up, though. I borrowed this top about a month ago, and have tried to wear it about three times. Yesterday though, I thought I'd try it as a dress. Besides being too short, it's too big around the bottom and looks retarded. My go-to with anything that's too short is wear it over a high waisted skirt. This didn't help the problem, so I decided to tuck it in. Jackpot!

I paired the look with my trusty gangsta boots, and my new leather biker jacket. I've been wanting one of them since the beginning of winter, but they're just SO expensive. To be honest, I almost gave up hope eventually because I couldn't find one I liked for under R500. 

We went out for lunch with my gran at the Smiley Oven at Gants Centre in Somerset West this week, and of course we had to pop in at the famous little clothing shop next door. It isn't exactly a Chinese shop, but it's not like a normal shop either. It sells old lady clothes that are super flowy and super lacy, but it also sells inexpensive jerseys, scarves and jewelry. 

The one rack had leather jackets in all colours, so I was just absent-mindedly browsing through them. My mom actually noticed the style of one in particular that she knew I'd like. The label said Forever21 but it was only R260. Therefore, I really doubt it is really a Forever21 jacket, but who gives, I got a jacket that I really like for half the price I would've paid.

If I had've just given up with the teal top, I wouldn't have had a cute outfit for our coffee date. If I had've given up looking for a leather jacket, I would've wasted over R250. 
Lesson of the week : wait it out, and try again! Have a good one
Roxy X