April's Amazing Fashion Wishlist - London Style

April's Fashion Wishlist has been altered slightly, as I spent this weekend down in London, pounding the paving slabs of Oxford Street and beyond in search of simple and elegant key pieces with which to update my flagging wardrobe. It's not been the easiest month to be out splashing the cash on clothes, shoes and accessories, as I have no less than seven - yes 7 - birthday's this month. That, for those who aren't so great at maths, amounts to seven birthday presents, seven birthday parties and seven birthday outfits!

Luckily for me (in some ways) six of my friends have double booked their party dates on two separate weekends - meaning that I will be driving to Cannock and then back to Coleshill one Saturday night, the following Friday I will be driving to Selly Oak and then back to Water Orton in the one night and then on the Saturday of that weekend I will be at a joint birthday party - so technically for those six birthdays I will only have to find three outfits. Which is a slight blessing.

So for most of the parties I am making do with what I already own, as I have a habit of hoarding party dresses and barely wearing them once in a year, before I go out and purchase more party outfits. This year, however, I have been sensible and have just bought things I actually needed (or wanted that much I'd have died walking away from them!).

For this month's Amazing Fashion Wishlist I thought I'd split it into two topics of fashion - daywear necessities I picked up in London, and party dresses I am intending to wear to my numerous parties. So, without any further adieu I shall get on with displaying my most recent set of purchases from that there London town.

Three-story Primark

One of my favourite things about London's shopping hub is the three-story Primark they have located at the far end of Oxford Street. After arriving in London and picking up lunch in Holborn on the Saturday, myself and my family headed straight to Primark and got stuck in.

The only item of clothing I actually ended buying form Primark was this white, lace tassel crop top (£8). It does look lovely on, and the tassels along the hem means that there isn't too much tummy on show which helps! While the weather isn't at it's brightest I'm just going to wear it with jeans or leggings - although I am now in constant fear of snagging it on something as there are so many tiny threads hanging off it! So no hugs for me in this top, me thinks!

I bought these wedge thong sandals from Primark too (£12). I have lots of pairs of brown or tan gladiator sandals and wedges, but only one pair of black summer shoes, and they don't go with anything I own now really. I don't normally like flower detailing on shoes, but the way these have been done looks really nice, and not too girly either - which is a pet hate of mine! They're suede so even though they rubbed to start with I'm hoping they will soften up soon enough. I also love the slight wedge to them, as I think it makes your feet look much nicer than in flat-soled shoes. But that's just me being extra weird!

On the accessories front Primark did well for quirky detailing. I bought this raffia style cross-body bag for a tiny £6. It's not the biggest bag in the world, and with my purse, keys and phone in there's barely room for a lip gloss, but it is really nice and practical for when you need your hands free (to shop or hold drinks etc!). Plus, it's got a really summery feel to it and it will go with loads of clothes I own.

I also bought this horse buckle waist

belt, which I just fell in love with. It was a minuscule £1.50, and it's going to look great wrapped round plenty of my summer dresses to give them that extra touch of vintage. I really struggle to find waist belts that fit me as I'm so tiny, but this one is perfect and I can't wait to wear it now.

Further more, I treated myself to some hold-up style tights which have been huge this year. I love patterned tights of all varieties, and these are my new crush. They just look so sexy with anything, and they make a real statement of any outfit. Plus, they are much easier to wear than real stockings! Primark make a decent pair for £3, which is drastically cheaper than River Island's £15 pair. They will all rip in the end, so why fork out a fortune for them? At £3 you could easily afford to stockpile them for the next few months.

I got a tad excited by Primark's jewellery as well - as usual! I bought this heavy duty chain for £3.50, which really does weigh a ton! I think it looks quite vintage and it's a simple accessory to add to most outfits to help style them up a bit more. I also bought a gold fig leaf necklace (£2.50) and a gold leaf ring (£2) which snakes up your finger, as I thought they would also help give a bit more of a vintage look to some of my outfits. I don't do dainty jewellery, so the chain on the necklace could do with being a bit bigger in my opinion - but they're all beautiful really!

H&M heaven

H&M is normally my safe haven for clothes, as I'm guaranteed to come away with something lovely for a tiny price. I can normally buy half the shop, but there just didn't seem to be all that much on offer in London sadly so I left with these cute camel pumps (£8) in the end. These will be great in the summer with jeans, dresses and skirts. The neutral colour means they can go with almost anything as well, which is a bonus!

New Look loving

I ended my shopping spree in New Look, where I picked up a fair few key pieces for my summer wardrobe. Firstly, this Spanish-style floral off-the-shoulder dress (£28) is to die for. They do it in white and red as well, but I stuck to black so that I could easily match it with my new Primark sandals. It has a great ruffled neckline, a nipped in waist band to add shape, and is the perfect leg-length for petites like myself. I am going to live in this dress this summer, it is bang on trend!

This blue ripped edge t-shirt (£8) is basically a simple version of my more elaborate Primark top, but I think with jeans or my high-waisted shorts it's going to look quite special. They do it in a variety of colours and it's a nice yet simple day top to throw on and look good in. With my Primark chain and my H&M shoes I think this is going to look great - much better than it does in this picture any way!

Finally, I managed to get my hands on some light blue, high-waisted jeans (£16). As a short arse I really struggle to find good quality fitted jeans, so I have resorted to buying kids jeans to make sure they fit properly! Laugh all you want but kids jeans don't have added VAT so who's really winning? Almost all of the jeans I have bought over the last couple of years have been New Look kidswear, and they do make some really lovely, well fitting designs. The high waist on these will help vamp up a few of my current outfits, and the light blue is really striking in the sunny weather. Plus, they're very light on, and are almost like a jegging rather than a jean - so they're extra comfortable too.