About a week ago my sister and I ventured off to the Dublin, which is basically Emerald City for anyone who loves to shop. Unlike the rest of our family, we absolutely love shopping, and we couldn’t wait to designate a whole day to our one true passion, and that’s exactly what my sister and me did. We left on the bus early in the morning, and returned back on the train late in the evening, weighed down by shopping bags containing my new summer wardrobe, and a very monochrome one at that.
The first shop we went to was Pull & Bear, I didn’t even know there was a Pull & Bear in Dublin so that was a great start to the day. What was even better was the summer sales that were still going strong. I bought two things in there, the first is a really tiny black crop top, something I would never usually buy, but I was feeling a bit wild that morning. It looks like I got it from the baby section in Mothercare, but I assure you that it looks really cool and really flatters my shape. I can imagine wearing this with a pair of high-waisted denim shorts and a flannel over it on one of those days where Ireland decides that it wants to be the south of France instead of it’s normal grey-skied self. I am hoping we get a lot of those days this summer, but so far, Ireland has been embracing it’s usual drizzle and gusty winds. Typical. Anyways, the crop top was on sale for only €4, which I thought was incredible for a shop like Pull & Bear.
The next thing I bought was another sale item, it’s this white sleeveless cotton teeshirt with lace detailing at the back. It’s quite simple, and because I haven’t really found my personal style yet, I really want to build up my wardrobe with lots of staple basics, so that I have a good foundation, and after a while I can build it up and experiment by buying different statement pieces. So most of the things that I bought are just basic staples, which aren’t very adventurous and that’s why. This top was only €5.99, on sale from 10 euros, it’s beautiful and great quality. I’ll try and do a summer LookBook/Outfits Of The Week when the grey skies lift, and I’ll include lots of the clothes that I mention in this post, so if you want to get a better idea of what these clothes look like on, check back soon.
The next shop we wandered into was H&M, and I bought one thing there, that I’ve already worn three times since I’ve gotten it because I love it so much. It’s this black and white striped top, with 1/2 length sleeves and a round wide neckline. It’s really fitted, and it’s such a beautiful shape that really flatters my frame. I think that it looks very ballet-esque, and I’ll probably wear it a lot in dance class come September. If I remember correctly, I think it was around 7 euros, but don’t quote me on that, because inside this brain of mine is the memory and attention-span of a goldfish.
After H&M, me and my sister made our way to the far off land of Jervis St. Shopping Centre, the place where dreams are made of. Inside this magical and mythical place are many of my absolute favourite shops, one being Forever 21. Forever 21 is probably the place that I bought the most things, I think that when you enter, they spray this invisible magic dust that makes you fall in love with every single piece of clothing in the entire shop. I made my favourite purchase of the whole day in Forever 21, and I’m actually wearing it right now as I write this blogpost. It’s a dark green and blue tartan shirt-dress that was €21, it looks so effortless, and I have a vision in my mind of wearing it on a sunny day, with the sleeves rolled up, black strappy sandals (which I will ramble on about momentarily), big black sunglasses and my hair in a topknot bun. I am determined that I will fulfill this look, I’m pretty sure this shirt-dress will also be my birthday attire. I think it’s my favourite piece of clothing that I own!
The next thing I picked up was the most amazing vibrant electric blue bikini top for €16. I rarely find any bikinis that suit my shape, because I’m quite small and slight, but this one has filled my bikini-shaped void. It is so fitted and I feel like I could jump of the highest rocks, piers and diving boards with my modesty still intact. I cannot wait to wear this when the sky’s a little bluer, and the water’s feels a little less like someone is piercing your feet with a thousand tiny needles...unfortunately I just realized that I forgot to photograph it, so I'll post it on Instagram later on if you want to see it! My link is below/@cliohartnett.
While I was on my Forever 21 rampage, I also picked up this black and white striped dress. I’m not the biggest dress-wearer, which is something I’d like to change because whenever I see someone wearing a casual summer dress, I think they look amazing. I think the reason I’ve become an anti-dress person, is because they remind me too much of when I was little, when I wore bright floral dresses, over a pair of jeans, and a clashing cardigan. This summer, I am going to make an effort to erase those images from my head, and get over my summer dress phobia once and for all! Anyways, this dress was on sale for 6 euros, and I bought it a little larger than I usually would because I’m all about that oversized look. So excited to wear this!
Right beside Forever 21, is possibly the biggest New Look to ever exist. I’d compare it the a vast jungle, where all you can see for miles and miles are never-ending rows of clothing racks. It’s a struggle to find the exit, I personally think they should design a map of that shop, because I’ve gotten lost in there too many times. It’s definitely worth the disorientation and confusion if you manage to find the shoe section though, it’s heaven in the form of footwear. I’d say I spent half an hour in the shoe section, and it was the best half hour of my life! I picked up this pair of black strappy sandals which I absolutely love. They were quite pricey at €30, but I know I’ll wear them so much that they will become tattered and will completely fall apart, so that was a good enough excuse to buy them.
Bershka, Bershka, Bershka. What a great shop. It’s been my lifelong dream to just hide in Bershka, get locked in at the end of the day, spent the night in there trying on all there clothes, and in the morning the shop owner would feel so bad that they would let me take anything I wanted for free. I think about this all the time. Weird? Probably. Anyways, by now my sister was complaining that she was hungry and had sore feet, because she doesn’t have the shopping determination and resilience that I take so much pride in. So I scanned the shop very quickly, and managed to discover a pair of black jeans with rips at the knees. I’d been looking for a pair of jeans in this style for so long, so I quickly went to the changing rooms and tried them on. I’d say they are the best-fitting jeans I’ve ever bought, and they weren’t crazily expensive either, around €24.99 I think. These jeans were so close to being my favourite purchase, they were just pipped to the post by the Forever 21 shirt-dress. Nevertheless, they get a special merit for being so fabulous.
The last shop I went into was good old Penneys, or Primark for you British readers. Oh Penneys, such a chaotic mess, it has to be said. I didn’t see anything that I liked, but I’m sure there were a few hidden gems in there if one searched hard enough. But there was one specific thing that I went in there to buy, and that was a pair of €3 white canvas shoes. Anyone who know me knows I like to vandalize everything I own with paint. Just look at my bedroom walls and you’ll see. Anyway, shoes are no exception, I love painting my shoes, I actually have an old blogpost all about a pair of shoes that I unleashed my creativity on, and actually wear those shoes all the time, so I thought I’d buy another blank pair and go wild. The good thing is that the material is actually canvas, so it’s perfect to paint on. I’m sure there will be a blogpost up very soon with my latest shoe-painting creations.
I think that concludes my list of summer purchases this year, although I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more things made it into my summer wardrobe because I have become a serial shopping addict! Thank you for reading, if you bought anything you love, please share in the comments section. Or just comment a friendly “hello.” I check my comments all the time and reply to every single one of them, because comments give me life! I’d also love it if you followed me on Bloglovin’, I am always so happy when I see a rare new follower. (Nearly at 30 followers now, giving Zoella a run for her money!) As always my Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are linked below.
Thanks for reading, hopefully you’ll visit Sunny Like July again soon! - Love from Clio.
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