Must-buy item: Go peachy with Paul and Joe Sister

I don't normally spend a lot on my clothes but every once in a while, I do try and invest in something that's slightly better quality.

So far, I've bought a Antik Batik dress and an Alice McCall skirt - next up is a Luella t-shirt and hopefully this lovely little peachy number.

I love Paul and Joe and their diffusion line, Paul and Joe Sister, is just in that save-up-for-a-couple-of-months-but-still-doable bracket.

This little number will look fab tucked into a pair of high waisted wide-legged jeans. Equally it will look gorgeous teamed with a little denim skirt and some cute pumps. Summer is on it's way - hurrah!

Must-buy item: Romance is in the air!

I just love this blouse from ASOS. Normally I'm not keen on their stuff. I've ordered things from their site in the past and it's all a bit cheap, but this peachy-coloured blouse looks lovely.

Fashion peeps would tell you this is a good buy as it taps into the romantic trend, which is going to be big for spring/summer.

Buy it now and you can team it with jeans and a black blazer to toughen it up. Come the warmer weather, mix it with other pastel colours to create a truly beautiful look. You get twice as much wear out of it so it really is a bargain. Just a shame I'm not buying anything until April!

A time for giving

I really love Christmas but there are some things associated with the festive season that I really dislike - bad office lunches, cheap mulled wine, having to endure Noel Edmonds on the box on Xmas morning and Secret Santa.

I’ve really never understood this office tradition. Personally, I buy presents for people I know and care about. Picking a random name from a hat and purchasing something under a fiver for them is not my idea of spreading Christmas cheer. Bah humbug to one and all.

This year, it’s even worse. Not only do I not actually know the person I have to buy a present for, but I’m buying for someone who has to be a fashionista (well nearly everyone in this office is). AND I’ve got to get them something for under a fiver – sigh!

What does one buy for a fashionable bod on the cheap? These guys get huge press discounts so buy everything they want. Although I did hear one particularly annoying writer chirping on about how mummy was buying her a Mulberry bag. She is some rich mummy!

Anyway, after fretting about this issue for a while I decided that at the end of the day, the whole premise of Secret Santa is that it’s – um – secret, so if my present is duff, I don’t care.

In the end, I did the thing that every Secret Santa buyer does – head for the fashion mecca that is Urban Outfitters. They have a range of great stocking fillers and cheapie gifts and surely because it’s from UO, it must be slightly fashionable – non? I’ll let you know how said gift went down later this week!

Other great places to try for cute, cheap and quirky gifts are:
ASOS – fab celebrity-tinged gifts for fashion conscious colleagues
Kitsch – cool and kitsch stocking filler ideas
Accessorize – a great range of cheap and cheerful accessories and jewellery
Eclectic Eccentricity – a totally unique range of cheap and unusual jewellery, perfect for the more quirky Secret Santa receiver