Outfit post #27

Another week, another outfit post!

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend - I know I did!

I spent the whole weekend with my best girls, which is hands down my favourite way to spend my weekend.

On the Friday we went to the Drive-in Cinema in Trafford Park to watch the one and only, GREASE! It was amazing!We had lots of goodies and good ol' sing song. Then on Saturday night we went round to my friend Jenny's house and had a couple of drinks, girly chats and watched some girly films. It was literally perfect.

Anyway, back to my outfits. 

Again, here's a supply of all the outfits I have put together over the past week.

For constant updates follow me on Instagram - @hopegorton

All my outfits at the moment are all work related. As I spend most of my time at work (obviously, as a full time working girl) I have to make sure they're appropriate for the work environment as well as showing off my preferred style and personality.

Shirt - George @ ASDA, Pencil Skirt - River Island and Loafers - Office

Polka dots, polka dots & polka dots! If you have seen any of my previous outfit posts, polka dots are featured very heavily throughout. I (personally) think they are a pattern that never goes out of style and looks good with all sorts of colours. I have had this pencil skirt for a VERY long time and found it at the back of my wardrobe! This shirt was a bargain at £6 in the sale from ASDA - I'm all about supermarket fashion.

Jacket - Next, Jumpsuit - Missguided, Belt - Miss Selfridge and Shoes - Topshop

This jumpsuit is one of the best purchases I have ever made! It looks good dressed up and down, and can be paired with pretty much any jacket or shoes. A really simple outfit but definitely one of my favourites.

Dress - Missguided, Scarf - Primark, Jacket - Next and Boots - Office

Now... I would never normally wear black and blue together, but this particular day the weather was awful, so the tights had to be put on. My favourite item in this outfit is definitely the scarf. I've had it for a while now but it's a classic, and can be paired with outfits like this or a simple tee & jeans ensemble.

Trousers and Shirt - George @ ASDA and Shows - Topshop

This is probably one of the cheapest outfits I have ever put together. I think altogether it must have cost not even £50 - the shoes being the most expensive. And as you can see, more polka dots!

Jumpsuit - Miss Selfridge

Oh lord! How beautiful is this jumpsuit?! I seen it a while ago whilst out shopping and was so tempted to get it, but didn't have anywhere to wear it too. Then I was invited to a party with the company I used to work for,which obviously gave me a reason to go and buy this! Sticking to my traditional simple black outfit with red lipstick - but it's what I'm known for! I particularly liked the wide leg on this jumpsuit - very 70s! I would definitely dress this jumpsuit down with a nice jacket, day-time heels and a floppy hat!

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening :)

Hopeful

xxx

Outfit post #26

Hello Lovelies,

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend - and an even more wonderful Valentines day! I hope all you taken ladies were treated like princesses, and I hope all the single ladies partied hard with their loved ones!

I had a pretty average Valentines day (as always!) I'm not a huge Valentines day fan. Don't get me wrong, I am and can be super romantic - I like to be swept off my feet, as well as doing the sweeping but I just don't like the 'forcefulness' that Valentines day brings. There shouldn't be just one day that we dedicated our love or appreciation for somebody, that should be shown everyday!

But, my boyfriend did good and bought me chocolates and flowers - and as a romantic and a girly girl, I do love flowers and chocolates. But I did most of my celebrating with my girls, it's a tradition and one I want to maintain forever!

Anyway, to the point. Here I have compiled my outfits for the week - you may have noticed I have started doing this now. It's just so much easier for me! It means I can get all my outfits down at once and make sure I blog more often! Rather than forgetting to take a picture of my outfit, meaning I won't blog about it! God bless Instagram! Which you can follow me on @HopeGorton

Jumpsuit - Missguided, Shirt - River Island, Blazer - H&M, Necklace - Primark and Shoes - Topshop.

You probably would have seen this before, my favourite jumpsuit from Missguided!
I'm getting to a point now, that I am running out of things to wear/new outfits to think of - which is why I love this jumpsuit, whether on it's own or with something else, it always looks pretty darn good.

Skirt - Primark, Crop top - Freds Boutique, Shoes - Topshop

This pink skirt is one of my most recent purchases, from the ever wonderful Primark. I am a huge fan of the 50s style and the mid-length skirts/dresses so when I seen this I knew I had to have it! 

Jeans - Primark, Shirt - George @ ASDA, Necklace - Primark, Coat - George @ ASDA and Hat - Ebay

I have fallen in love with my new hat!! A bargain at just £5 off ebay - it gives my outfits that something extra! 

Skirt - Primark, Jumper - Topshop, Boots - Vagabond/Office Shoes and Hat - Ebay

I love this skirt - again another 50s vibe! This hat and jumper are my life savers, go with absolutely everything!

Shirt - HUK Boutique, Jeans - Primark, Jumper - Topshop, Boots - Vagabond/Office shoes and Necklace - Primark.

I wore this love heart print shirt on Valentines day, just to get in the mood and because I adore this shirt!

Jumpsuit - Missguided, Shoes - Ebay, Belt - Miss Selfridge and Camisole - H&M

Rocking the monochrome look for valentines evening with my girls! This jumpsuit is perfect and can be worn both day and night.

Hope you like this weeks outfit choices :)

Hopeful

xxx

Opinion Post: Katie Hopkins

There is no one in this world I can honestly say I hate. Literally no one. Hate requires too much effort and just isn’t something I can do.

However, there is one person who never fails to get my blood boiling.

One person that ever fails to leave a feeling of frustration and annoyance.

One person who’s opinion I cannot abide, as to be quite honest I think she talks a lot of shit (excuse my language).

That one person is… Katie Hopkins.

I can imagine most of you are nodding your heads in agreement. She is a pretty vile opinionated little woman.

I am all for the expressions ‘each to their own’ and ‘everyone is entitled to their own opinion’ because I think we are, but surely there is a line. As a (I would say pretty decent) human being I know when my opinions are not wanted or do not need to be said, and should be kept to myself. In fact, most of us know and pick up on social cues of when to keep our mouths shut. Also, we have those ‘go to’ people in our lives who we can say whatever we like to them and they will never judge us or feel ashamed by us.

On the other hand, there are individuals i.e. Katie Hopkins who are socially deluded that they cannot understand or choose to simply ignore said social cues and air their opinions for everyone to hear, no matter who they offend or upset.

This is why I do not like Katie Hopkins (I don’t hate her FYI, I don’t know her to hate her.) 

She believes, for some reason, that her opinions matter to this world and that we are much better off for knowing them. Wrong! 

Now, the world wouldn’t change without them. We‘d still do the same things every single day, such as, go to work, take our children to school, cook dinner, see friends etc… But there would be a lot less frustration, annoyance, offence and upset after hearing her ridiculous views.

So, we had the first initial This Morning settee discussion, regarding children’s names. I won’t go into too much detail with this but basically, Katie Hopkins believes that if children are called certain names they are clearly from rubbish backgrounds, aren’t as intelligent as other children and are badly behaved meaning she would not let her own children play with any children with these names such as, Tyler, Tiffany etc… She blamed the parents for being equally less intelligent that other adults and they weren’t earning a honest living. She also cursed parents who name their children after places – which Phillip Schofield was soon to point out that her own daughter was called India! Slam Dunk, well done Mr Schofield.

So, although this did make me feel slightly unnerved and wanted to scream at my television. I still felt the same as I always have, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how much I or any others disagree with it.

The one thing she has been doing recently, which I cannot stand, is shaming other women. First, Peaches Geldof (who also gave her another slam dunk), then Lily Allen (again, slam dunk from Miss Allen) and then turned a discussion into an personal insult match with Annabel Giles (yes, you guessed it another slam dunk from this powerful lady).

She insulted Peaches Geldof as a mother

She called Lily Allen fat after ‘failing’ to lose her pregnancy weight and branded she was only well-known because she has a famous father

and after being made a complete fool out of during the Big Benefits Row Live turned to personally insulting Annabel by branding her ‘a model who never made it’

Katie just give up.

Since when did it become ok to publicly shame other women? Especially other successful women!

As women we should be united together to build ourselves up, pay one another compliments and strive to be a successful, powerful gender – not shame one another through unnecessary insults about weight, motherhood, appearance and career choices. We already have too many demons to deal with without one of our own kind turning their backs on us.

Katie Hopkins is clearly an intelligent woman, but the way she is going about it, she is also shunning herself. There is nothing worse than someone with a negative, destructive frame of mind who is out to criticise your every move – how on earth could she ever get someone to work for her? Everyone would run a mile! Katie, seriously, use your intelligence and strong, domineering, powerful woman status for good and help bring women out of the brink and become successful. Rather than insulting and criticising them. Imagine if all the Katie Hopkins of the world grouped together to help the less fortunate, we would have an incredible society full of strong and ambitious women.

Come on, get it together!

Hopeful

xxx

#100HappyDays

As most of you will know (if you read one of my previous blogs) I am taking part in the #100HappyDays challenge, where I have to take/upload a picture every single day of something that made me happy.  This had been a great challenge to be a part of as it makes you consciously think of what makes you happy, setting you up for a good day every day as there's got to be something that made you happy - otherwise you have no image to upload and feel you have failed the challenge. Which so far, I haven't done! I have done 20 days so far, each day uploading one or a group of pictures of things that made me smile/happy. Ok, so it's not all amazing. I have days which are very average at best and the main highlight of my day is getting home and getting in bed, but I don't think that's a bad thing! It's teaching us to notice and understand the things we should be grateful for, as well as what makes us happy.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of my posts so far! (Day 1 is on the other blog post!)

Booking my trip to New York, Beating my target for Dryathlon, finding a new blog to be inspired by and being given free chocolates from work!

 Seeing results from eating well and exercising more, being given a free chocolate cake of my wonderful friend, a shameless selfire before I met my wonderful friends for a catch up over some lovely food.

Having a lazy day in bed watching saturday TV, another shameless selfie, managing to fix my broken charger problem and dreaming of beautiful things i.e. shoes!

Green tea and exciting plans at work, followed by the pub quiz with the Uni gang!

A yummy, healthy snack at work, finally chose how I wanted my hair (sort of) and my pooch makes me smile - he's just too cute!

Yummy, healthy lunch at work - proud of how well I'm doing! And these little munchkins make my day, love them!

The best soup in the world! Went for a lovely curry with work as part of social club but was very happy to be in bed after a long day.

 My new bank card arrived after my old one was cancelled due to fraud :( I downloaded a new book on my kindle and my Dad is one of the funniest men in the world!

A lovely drive to Alderley Edge with the boyfriend, where we had a super naughty day of fish and chips and sweets!

A lovely, early breakfast at Eat before a day of shopping, my purchases (happy!) and being able to run a bath at the end of it all, ready to relax.

Smashing my Dryathlon target! And having a very, very yummy Pizza Express with the Uni gang!

Winning a fabulous competition on Twitter from theEword and finally getting my hair cut and coloured after a good few months without - bliss!

My wonderful prize was delivered to the office - can't wait to go for Afternoon Tea at Hey Little Cupcake! Then headed off to Twitfaced - brilliant night!

Spent the day relaxing reading 'The Fault in our Stars' followed by watching another incredible episode of Call the Midwife and dreaming/planning of becoming more successful so I can finally move out of parents house!

 A healthy lunch at work - yum! And found some right gems from Twitfaced!

The weekly pub quiz with the uni lot and indulging in a piece of cake to cheer me up!

Are you taking part in the #100HappyDay challenge?

Follow me on Instagram to follow all my challenge and outfit posts @hopegorton

Hopeful

xxx

Motivational Monday #16

Isn’t being unhappy, miserable and unmotivated so easy?

Isn’t it easy to give up at the first hurdle when you don’t see the results you wanted, or it wasn’t what you expected?

Of course it’s easy to do all those things. It’s easy to bring people down and bring yourself down. 

It’s easy to criticise and be negative, but who wants to do any of those things?

It’s even easier to be happy, smile and complement someone – and not just on their looks/how they dress. Appreciation and recognition are something, as human beings we crave but don’t seem to get enough of it. 

Well, that can stop today.

We should make it our mission, actually our responsibility to bring people up, complement them, make them smile and make their day. It’s so easy to be negative and think the whole world is against you, but it’s so much better to pause, take a step back and realise just how good you have it.

We all get into those ditches and downward spirals of negativity, where we think life isn’t playing out how we wanted it to. We aren’t in the perfect relationship, job/career or living situation, we don’t travel enough, we don’t sleep enough, why can’t I look like her/him, why am I not as skinny or as beautiful as that person, I need this, I want that etc… Truth be told (and this may hurt) is that there is always going to be someone better looking, fitter and more successful than you – there’s always going to be missed opportunities and regrets and there’s even going to be moments where we realise the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, BUT we have the choice to be happy.

First of all, we can stop comparing ourselves to others, and concentrate on being the best version of ourselves possible. We can start appreciating the small things, like a good cup of coffee, someone held the door open for you or you found yourself smiling for a reason only you understand. We can take more chances and risks – don’t like your job? Leave! Find something else. Don’t travel enough? Travel, book that spontaneous trip to wherever your heart desires. Want to fall in love? Stop stressing, be patient and everything will fall into place. Want to lose weight? Go for it, no one is stopping you. Don’t try, only do!

Ok, so this may sound simple… It isn’t. There will be cases where this takes longer than imagined or simply because it took us forever to build up the courage to do what we truly want. It doesn’t matter how long it takes because we have time, patience and dignity – when the time is right we will know, and we will be truly happy.

Happiness isn’t something we are owed, and isn’t something to expect. Happiness is a gift, an honour and a privilege and we should hold onto it as long as possible and make sure it becomes a regular occurrence in our lives.

We can be happy, we just have to let it be.

Remaining Hopeful

xxx

Outfit post #25

I feel like I haven't done a outfit post for such a long time. I tend to use Instagram as my go to hub for uploading images of my outfits near enough everyday - so, please follow me if you would like to see more. I'm currently doing the #100HappyDays challenge too, so my insta updated every single day!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of my outfits that I have put together over the last few weeks (that I hadn't already posted on my outfits of 2013 post)

Most of the outfits I post are of things I wear to work - my office is smart casual, so I find it pretty easy to wear most of my wardrobe on a daily basis, which is awesome! What's not so awesome is that I am vastly running out of clothes they haven't seen me in so I feel like I need to go shopping all the time - but ahh well!

Outfit #1

This dress (Topshop) is one of my 'go to' pieces! It never fails me, I've had it for a few years now! As it's a simple grey colour I can wear it with anything - any colour/pattern/length/texture! But I decided to wear it with my floaty mid-length cardigan (Miss Selfridge), a pair of tights (Primark) and my amazing leopard, suede ankle boots (Office).

Outfit #2

I love these trousers (ASDA), even if they do look like PJs! They are super comfortable, a made out of a lightweight, thin material and have an elasticated waist. I have found it quite difficult to find tops to wear with this trousers, until I found this peplum (Matalan) at the back of my wardrobe! It has a lovely full bottom on it and is super comfy too, paired with my amazing Topshop pointy heels!

Outfit #3

Omg! THIS skirt! This is one of my most favourite purchases for a while. Again, I struggled to find a top to go with this perfectly until I seen this super cute red blouse from Primark - at a bargain £8 there was no way I could have said no! I absolutely love this look and can't wait to wear it again for a date night with the boyfriend or cocktail night with my girls.

Outfit #4

This top was kindly donated to me from my amazing friend, Jenny! I borrowed it once for a night out and I absolutely fell in love with it, so you can imagine how delighted I was when she told me I could have it as she no longer wears it! I love the vintage feel it has to it and it brightened up my boring skinny jeans (Primark). I also paired it with a chunky, gold chain (Primark) and my old faithful Vagabond boots.

Outfit #5

This was my 'I feel so hungover, but I don't want to look hungover' Saturday look and I think it looks pretty cute (even if I do say so myself!) I have been looking for a tartan dress for ages, but all the ones I have seen as really short. As a curvy girl with very chunky legs I don't feel comfortable wearing anything above my knee. I seen this dress in... Wait for it... TESCO! Tried it on, and although it sits just above my knee, there was no way I couldn't have it! It fits perfectly on my upper body, making my boobs and waist stand out, but the a line shape skims over my large bum and thighs - dream! The leather collar detail is the perfect touch. When I put this on, I thought there was something missing and when I found this flower statement necklace (Laundry Boutique) in hung up, I thought 'PERFECT!' Who doesn't like a bit of a clash every now and again!

Hope you like some of my outfit choices for this week :)

Hopeful

xxx

Opinion Post: When I read 'The Fault in Our Stars'

I love to read. I really love to read.

Today, the second of February, was the first day since leaving University that I actually had the spare time, energy and urge to read a book (for pleasure, not lecture notes or course books for studying!).

So, you've all probably heard of The Fault in Our Stars - a film that is due to release in June.

I'm not a huge film buff. I love watching films and going to the cinema, but I don't have a passion for it nor do I ever feel like I am missing out if I haven't seen the latest releases. But, sometimes, there is a trailer that I come across and I just have to see the film... But, if there's a book I want to read that more. More often than not I'll make it my mission to read it before I see the film.

So, one day I decided to download this book onto my Kindle, just so I knew it was there to read at my leisure whenever I wanted or had the time to. I am so glad I sat down today and devoted all my time to this wonderful story.

A little background without giving it all away - this book is about two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, who both suffer/have suffered with cancer and fall in love through meeting at a cancer support group.

I am a HUGE sucker for a love story. They are my favourite things to read, I love getting lost in their story and imagining what they would look like, sound like and act like if it were a real life story. Although, the story is based on a young girl who suffered from the same cancer as the main female character, the story is fictional. 

This story is simply beautiful and will melt even the most stern of hearts. I honestly challenge you to read this book without shedding a tear - I can assure you, you would be entering a losing battle. This story has a slight similarity to 'My Sister's Keeper' as it leaves you teary eyed, heart strings firmly pulled and leaves you with a much more realistic understanding of what it is like to live and suffer from cancer. And if you have read My Sisters Keeper, you'll know there's a huge twist... I'll say no more.

Children with cancer should not exist. It is as simple as that. Children should enter this world with innocence, hope and uncertainty as they unravel their lives at a normal speed - they should have the right to be educated, work hard, fall in love, travel and enjoy their lives the way it should be. Unfortunately, this is not the case as some children are born into this world and diagnosed with a life sentence, before their lives can even begin.

This story provides you with the flip side. Although, this story is sad and tragic. It is a beautiful tragedy and should prove to everyone, that no matter what life you have been given or what life you live, you are entitled to live it how you want. You are allowed to have your own opinions and feelings - even if people do not agree or they are a little cynical. And ultimately, you are entitled, just like the rest of us to fall in love and be loved. 

I feel happy. I feel blessed. I feel joy.

This story is simply wonderful, and is written beautifully by John Green who captures the personalities of every character and makes you fall in love along with Hazel and Gus.
Love is something we cannot control - something Hazel learns - and it is a gift given to share between two people no matter what the circumstances. Love is clearly one of the most powerful emotions we have.

 Love makes us strong. Love makes us weak. Love makes us vulnerable as well as complete.

Whether you're dying from cancer, or a soldier heading off to Afghanistan, or even just an average. everyday person - love becomes us and makes us fight. It makes us fight harder, even if we are in a losing battle. I urge you to read this book to understand these feelings and be taken away in pure delight of such a beautiful story about two beautiful people.

Another aspect I loved about this story was how young they were, but how much they understood of the world and one another. They both have opposing views on death. Gus was looking for ways in which to make a difference or stand out so he would always be remembered, whereas, Hazel was more than happy to go through the rest of her life continuing what she does and what she has always done, and just be her - doesn't matter how many people knew about her because the ones that did where the only ones who mattered.

Gus' view towards death is something I think most people think and agree with. He mentions he fears a total 'oblivion' where everything ceases to exist. Most people are uncomfortable with the words 'death' and 'ending' and feel this is the one chance you have  to make something of yourself, and when your gone for people to recognise the work you did or the person you were - I think people fear being forgotten, rather than death itself.

Hazel's view was one I had never considered before. To just be content with being, and being around the people you want to be surrounded by. This is something I feel humble towards, and couldn't stop smiling whenever this was mentioned or hinted at in the book.  To love someone and be loved is a great existence, and if nothing else is made from your life - that's fine. They mention infinities and how they don't have to be large, they can be small and significant to one person rather than everyone. I believe in an infinity. I believe that is something we can all achieve and feel. I have the word 'infinite' tattooed behind my ear and first heard of this concept when reading 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' and I've been hooked on finding my own infinity ever since. This restores your faith, your hopes and dreams in finding happiness, falling in love and having that love returned. I know that once I find that, whether it be tomorrow or in years to come, I will know I have achieved all I set out to because it is the easiest thing to find, and once you do find it you can never lose it.

Hopeful

xxx