Tag Archives: Zara

Some last minute sale purchases.

At the start of the Zara sale I was a little disappointed with how few items grabbed my attention – though that may have had something to do with being up at midnight to be online as the sale went online. Well as happens every time, the more you look, the more treasures you find – especially in the ‘Last Sizes‘ section – but you’ve got to be quick! If when you click below they are out of stock – never fear – I see items popping back in and out of stock daily – in fact almost hourly at the moment – depending how much surfing I am doing!

This Kimono jacket is just lovely – the colors are gorgeous – and it’s only $29.99!

This bird print dress is relatively recent – and I love the shift shape. Again it is just $29.99.

I have these sarong trousers – and they are beautiful with a really interesting cut. Now just $39.99.

This crochet blouse is just gorgeous and has been out of stock in the sale for a while – I was lucky enough to snap up a Large when it came back yesterday. It will look great with jeans in the Fall. It reminds me of a gorgeous Next one that I treasured back in 1989!

When I’m hunting the Last Sizes section I am mainly looking for dirt cheap bargains like this t-shirt. I ordered the Medium in this.

This is my absolute favorite purchase and it will look great with my harems. It is the same t-shirt that Sue has and wears so well – a bargain at $14.99!

These are not yet in the Last Sizes section – I have been watching them all season but feared the print just made them too obviously ‘Zara’. I love them and have finally decided to hit the order button. I really want to wear these together with my white stilettos. We’ll see when I try them on!

What have you seen in the sales recently? Have you been scouring the Zara sale still or have you moved on to the Next sale in the UK?

Finally a quick round up of holiday activities and outfits. We went to Famagusta the other day to wander around the old City inside the castle walls. Before 1974 this was were all the Turkish Cypriots in the city had to live and there are lots of sad signs of war and destruction. Over the centuries many civilizations have lived in the walled city and left their mark so there are lots of great ancient sites and stores to see!

On Saturday night we wandered up to the village for our nightly ice cream and lo and behold another wedding was taking place. I also discovered it is the month of Ramadan, after offering our gardener a glass of water he told us he was fasting. I am learning new things all the time here – I had no idea Ramadan was timed to coincide with the gorgeous crescent moon.

I am wearing the Gap sunwashed t-shirt, J.Crew chino shorts in peach neon and my Marks and Spencers bowcage sandals.

Last night we went out for a ‘fancy’ dinner – according to the children that is. It’s about as fancy as it gets here in N. Cyprus – but I wore a frock for the occasion:) (I’ve worn the red version here). The sandals are Marks and Spencers. As my Husband was driving I was unable to polish off the full bottle of wine on my own (it must be the heat) so I brought it home – classy.

Feeding my need for harems.

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So you all know by now that I love harem trousers. I think it is the fact that they are a love ’em or hate ’em item that makes me love them more. There is no middle ground – they are completely polarizing – I know from the comments I receive. Thankfully there are a few of us harem lovers around, otherwise stores like Zara and Mango wouldn’t continue to provide as many amazing options as they do. Even Next has got in on the game – admittedly their crotch is not low slung – but they are great for a harem novice.

Here are my picks from Next – I have them in white and black, and I have just ordered the navy – they are incredibly comfortable and quite flattering if you ask me, though Next seem to employ the same online stylist as M&S.

In navy – these come in black and white too.

I love this pattern – it reminds me of the Lululemon Wee are from Space print.

And of course there has to be some animal print in there.

And my very favorite – the tie dye option.

Since buying my Mango trousers I’ve seen them featured on a few other blogs so I’m quite happy I bought them before the sold out in the sale on the US site! You can find them here on the UK site for just 19.99 GBP, again they aren’t too low slung for those of you who just want to dip your toe in the harem trend.

I’m not usually a fan of paisley but I love the folded waistline this paisley print pair – again just 19.99GBP in the sale.

I may have also bought these – at just 15 GBP they are great value – a lovely loose linen, perfect with sandals or heels – and great for vacation.

Now Zara are always reliable for harems. I have a couple of winter styles and then I bought these for my vacation that are now in the sale – I adore them – they are a great blue and lovely and silky. They are the perfect dressy holiday trouser in my opinion.

I’m very excited to see that they are now available in orange or pink in the new collection.

And now for a real love it or loathe it item. I, of course, LOVE it and have ordered it – it will be waiting on my desk when I return to work – what a treat! I love how ridiculously it embraces the full LOW slung harem trouser. With killer heels and a clutch I think it will look simple and elegant. I present to you the Zara baggy fit jumpsuit.

I told you that my Husband was a great lover of harems too – he even wore them at my graduation ball – well he’s just ordered a pair of tailor made ones here. I’m tempted to invest in some Cypriot couture myself, though I’m a bit concerned about what exactly ‘planted within’ means?

Meanwhile here I am in the wonderful Zara trousers out for dinner last night. The t-shirt is Ted Baker which is proving to be incredibly versatile – it goes with everything – and the sandals are Zara too. I actually put make up on for the first time in a week but still couldn’t face the heat of the hairdryer.

So have I persuaded you to give harems a go yet?

A wedding, in the square, in the village, in N. Cyprus.

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As I was showering, getting ready for our evening promenade into the village, my Husband seemed unusually restless and impatient. I was taking my time, washing the grit and grime away from our hike up to Buffavento Castle earlier in the day. Little did I know we had a function to ‘attend’. Yes he had scoped out the village square earlier in the day, and he was well aware of the function about to take place that night. He was keen for me, and Poppy and Hugh, to catch a glimpse of local life, and I was ushered out of the door under the pretense that he was tired and wanted to get home soon.

We meandered up the road to the village square to get the children their ice creams, with the plan to sit in the municipal play area and watch them use their last reserves of energy on the swings.

When we got to the square there was a fervor of activity. A wedding was about to begin – it was just how it is in the movies!! I couldn’t believe our luck! I waited in two minds while the kids ate their ice creams – was I invading someones personal moment if I tried to steal a glimpse of the bride? Or was it really just like the movies where every man, woman and child is welcome to attend?

Suddenly the decision was made for me – the noise of car horns blasting up the road got louder and louder, and as the cacophony turned towards us we were cornered by the screeching wheels of 20 or so cars pulling up. Ever tried hand brake turns around a small village square? It looked like some of these dudes did it every week in their pimped up 1988 3 series.

So we stayed – and many of you will be relieved to hear that we didn’t actually get too close – mainly as I didn’t have enough Turkish Lira to pin to the groom and his new bride – it was definitely a ‘pay to enter’ wedding.

I only took out my point and shoot camera regrettably – but some photos came out okay in the dark.

I managed to surreptitiously grab some snaps of the local barber – a busy man at 8pm – I keep trying to persuade Hugh to get his locks chopped there but he’s not having any of it.

Watching and waiting…

On arrival the Bride wandered around in a circle several times – I later learned that it is traditional to walk around 3 times with the bridal party before the wedding:

The wedding stage was decorated and covered in floral arrangements, and the guests lined up with their gifts of money ready to congratulate the bride and groom .

The first dance – I couldn’t help but wonder who this lovely couple were, and what life will be like for them here over the course of their marriage.

The whole village had turned up with gifts – it was going to be a while before the party started. I think I may have just left a bowl out for gifts and cut right to the dancing if it was my wedding.

So we left them in peace and wandered home listening to the music increase in tempo – my feet were itching to do a u-turn but I didn’t want to cross that line of hospitality so stayed put at the house enjoying a late night beer with my groom.

My wedding outfit consisted of Gap shorts (not online – size down though they are BIG – these are a US 4!), Gap t-shirt (just $5.99 right now – make sure you size down though) and Zara sandals (in the sale) – I wished I’d been told so I could have worn a frock:)

And my outfit for our walk up to Buffavento – I swear they could see me in Turkey in this. Buffavento has never seen anything quite like it:) The t-shirt is Zara (old) and the shorts are J.Crew chino shorts in neon peach, worn with my Newtons.

Finding our groove.

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It’s amazing how quickly you can get in the swing of things on vacation. Once you discover the supermarket, beach and local restaurant it all becomes so easy and you can hit the relax button.

We discovered our local beach yesterday – it was flippin’ hot at nearly 40 degrees celsius – our feet were burning on the sand! It was pretty busy too – but the Med was clear and warm and the kids had a blast. I was fascinated by the broad spectrum of people having fun – there were women with six packs and thong bikinis, and then there were women in Burkinis – all having a blast in the sun.

We picked up some fruit and water on our way there – I wish you could smell the sweetness of the melons wafting my way.

Last night we wandered down the road to try our local restaurant. My fingers were crossed that it would be good as there aren’t too many places that we can walk to here, and I want to make sure that OH isn’t driving all the time – he enjoys a cold beer too occasionally:) As we left the house I was shocked to discover that we were now a family of six.

Thankfully the food was amazing, and the view was even better. The restaurant was perched on a rock by the sea, and we listened to the waves crash as we munched on our mezze.

The fish was fabulous.

And so was the Efes.

My dinner guest wasn’t interested in having his photo taken:)

All six of us made it home and sat for a while staring at the thousands of stars, watching the Millennium Falcon fly over us, while listening to the call to prayer. A magical night.

I was comfortable but looking at the photos in the light of day this outfit is pretty unflattering – it gives me zero shape. Ahh well you live and learn – OH thinks I should write a post titled ‘Vacation Outfit Failures’ – he obviously didn’t like it either and thinks there may be more to come:) Thank goodness I have thick skin.

The loose shorts are old from Target, the t-shirt is the Gap sunwashed tee (Just $5 in some colors!) and the sandals are Zara (in the sale).

As I was on Gap getting the t-shirt link I completely fell in love with this dress – with a little imagination styling wise I think this is just gorgeous!

Still in her 30s

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But only just! I spent the day today celebrating my sister’s 39th birthday. We left early, abandoning our children, and ran for it to the bright lights of Manchester. What followed was one of the best days of sibling bonding I’ve ever had. I wish I could spend days like this every week with my sister.

After a mooch around the shops, where I bagged a couple of great deals in the Mango sale, we headed to Harvey Nicks for a fabulously debauch lunch – minimal food, copious prosecco and abundant conversation. I felt like I was on an episode of Long Lost Family – we spilled so much, talked so much, laughed so much and cried a little. It’s amazing what growing up can do for a relationship.

Lovely Louise – Happy 39th!:

My new pants – fabulously comfortable:

In between bottles of wine we dashed into Zara where I fell in love with this jacket – I will be ordering it on my return. It’s just the most perfect lightweight jacket – it fit like a glove.

We also managed to buy half of the Marks and Spencer’s shoe department. Lordy I might need a new suitcase again.

I first saw these on gorgeous Avril and I couldn’t resist the nude too.

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Then these are the first ever strap sandal I have ever owned! Normally I can’t get my toes to stay put beneath the strap and I end up with all sorts of nasty welts and blisters – but these are just SO comfortable. My first ever non-thong sandals. I promise – far nicer on – no Jesus sandal about these! My sister confirmed they were cute and not frumpy – I trust her, you should too.

Here are Louise’s – very classy indeed and a great wearable height. I’m so impressed with M&Ss shoe collection – thank goodness they do free shipping to the US now!

My outfit today (it was warm and sunny!):

Dress – T-shirt dress James Perse (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Shoes – Isabel Marant Bobby Sneakers // Scarf – J.Crew (old)

Off to bed now ready to head to Leeds! That’ll be a fun story for you:)

Home comforts.

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Here was me thinking I might lose a few pounds on holiday. Errr not the way I’m going at the moment. Copious wine, Mum’s fab cooking, plus a trip to Tesco where I stocked up on a few home comforts.

I’ve already had steak and kidney pudding and mushy peas, the bag of revels, and the Monster Munch have been opened. It’s a good job I stocked up on some of my favorite shape wear from M&S this morning too! Right now if you use BRAFIT48 at check out you will receive 8GBP off every 40GBP you spend! I broke it up into separate orders online to benefit fully from the code!

These are my favorite pieces – they really do cinch the waist, and the legs have no elastic so completely eradicate the VPL. At 25GBP each who can argue with that? M&S also ship free to the US now so I can rest easy.

This afternoon we’re babysitting for my sister so the house has 4 children in it. Poppy is enjoying every minute of schooling Hugh, Jack and Tom – poor boys.

Here’s my outfit for today – starting with a jacket and sneakers for a trip into Bury, followed by a cardigan and flip flops for hanging out at home.

Jacket – Zara TRF (old) // T-shirt – Gap // Jeans – Asos Saxby // Sneakers – Golden Goose

Flip flops – Havaianas // Cardigan – Boden (30% off everything till 24th June!!) Limited Edition sparkle pocket cardigan (old)

Off to help corral the children!

The sales are on!!

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Last night my brother and his family came over for dinner. I love hanging out with my brother – he’s quite tolerant of my foibles/quirks – or at least he appears to be. After dinner, once all had left, I happened to be surfing online and low and behold what should I see but the Zara site announcing it’s sale starting at midnight.

For the first time ever jetlag proved handy. I set my alarm just in case, but thanks to Poppy missing her Dad -bless her, I was wide awake at midnight, on my iPad, filling my cart. As I was about to check out, feeling very happy with myself, I lost the will to live. The UK site would not accept a US billing address and UK delivery address. Now for a moment I did think about waking Mum to borrow her card, but I quickly realized that she may not have placed the same degree of import on the Zara sale, especially close to 1am. Deflated I rolled over and fell asleep dreaming of what could have been.

In the cold light of day it was probably no bad thing. This morning, as I stalked the site again, I realized that I actually only REALLY wanted 2 items. Both are actually cheaper on the US site but the dress was sold out in a medium there – so thanks for letting me borrow your card Mum:)

Here are my purchases:

Jacket – $69.99 or 49.99 GBP

Dress – $69.99 or 49.99 GBP

Happy with my purchases we then headed to the Trafford Centre with my sister. I was not planning on buying anything. In fact I even went into Zara and came out empty handed. Louise then dragged me kicking and screaming into Ted Baker. Darn it – three dresses later we emerged victorious with grins across our faces.

Here’s Louise’s dress – just stunning on her – in a size 1 – after 2 children!! How can that be?!

And mine – another example of how different our styles are. I’ll never achieve her level of elegance.

The NULA dress – the same style as my taxi print one that Avril kindly sent over for me, but this is the Paris one, reduced from 129 GBP to 90 GBP. The print is stunning.

The Allysia dress – reduced from 129 GBP to 65 GBP – a proper bargain!

Poppy didn’t come home empty handed either. I have a blogger in training I assure you. I adore this cute Marks and Spencer’s dress that Nana bought her for her belated birthday present.

Now I’m off to sit in the garden and relax with my favorite purchases of the day – my vacation is complete now I have my hands on these.

My new dress.

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This week has flown by. My days have felt considerably shorter as I have been picking Hugh and Poppy up from camp at noon giving me just 3 hours in the office each day. And now I’m done! I’m officially on vacation for 5 weeks! Urgggh now the packing begins, two climates for four people in, what I consider to be small bags. Help!

On Friday Poppy and I went to watch Hugh’s recital for Kindergarten camp. She was thrilled to see her old teachers, and even more thrilled to be asked to help organize the kindergartners.

Trousers – Zara (no longer on website here) // Top – Boden Breton (Tops currently 30% off!) // Shoes – Tory Burch silver Eddie flats (similar here on sale)

Last night we booked the babysitter and headed out for dinner, before I abandon ship with the children. We had booked a table at a new place in town – highly unusual for us to venture out of our comfort zone – but the rave reviews lured us in. Unfortunately, after sitting at the bar for a drink, we quickly realized it wasn’t our kind of place! The food may have been great – but the ambience just wasn’t for us. So we hot footed it to the nearest cab and headed back to our favorite spot on the Westside, where we enjoyed some oysters and glorious views of the Atlanta skyline on a humid free summer night. We were quite proud of ourselves for not staying and spending money on a dinner, while wishing we were elsewhere.

My new James Perse dress had arrived just in time too:) I LOVE it. The boots are Rag & Bone camel canvas Newbury boots.

I was lucky enough to spend my night with this hot guy. Happy Father’s day my lovely, and thanks for making me pancakes this morning – I’m not sure that is how it is supposed to work on Father’s Day?:)

A new adventure for us.

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Poppy is a rising 2nd grader and my son, Hugh, starts kindergarten in August. For the non-Americans out there kindergarten is the first year of elementary (primary) school here, that you start when you are five. Hugh is so ready for school and so are we! I have none of the fears, sadness or nervousness that I had two years ago when Poppy was starting school. That’s what happens when you’re the second child. No one worries quite so much, because Mom and Dad have been through it all before. Those psychologists are really on to something when they talk about how birth order impacts personality.

Hugh has been in daycare since he was 3 months old so he is more than happy with the school routine, but I can tell he is somewhat apprehensive about new teachers, new classrooms and new friends. It doesn’t help when your 7 year old sister is constantly telling you all about it, who everyone is, and how she has already done it because “she’s 7 and is a 2nd grader”. Irritating for Hugh? Yes. Funny how I now have so much sympathy for my younger brother and sister having to deal with their know-it-all big sister.

We’re lucky that our elementary has a week long camp for new kindergartners, so they can become familiar with their new surroundings. So this morning I excitedly dropped off my nervous 5 year old. I embraced all the fabulous teachers that I now know so well, and left Hugh, thankfully, running into the classroom where he had spotted his best mate from daycare. Hooray!

Two children now at school – how did that happen?

Trousers – Zara sarong style trousers // Tank – J.Crew (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Sandals – Sam Edelman Gigi // Earrings – Forever 21 gold leaf (old)

Just for fun.

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Last night it occurred to me, as I was surfing some blogs and Instagram, that there are a lot of folks out there running, working out, doing crossfit etc. in preparation for the summer. I find it incredibly motivating seeing what others are up to in their work out regime and I love chatting with people about what works best for them. So I have a new challenge for you – just for fun:)

Every day I work out I will upload a post work-out photo on Instagram (poppysstyle) and tag it with #PSFitClub. Follow me here and leave a comment including the #PSFitClub. I’ll follow you back, and all you need to do is upload your post work-out photo tagged with #PSFitClub – easy hey? We can have our own virtual, global training group. Great motivation! I want to see rosy cheeks, sweaty brows and dirty sneakers/trainers. Tell us what your goals are, what you have done, how you feel, and what your reward will be. In 6 months time we can compare photos from now and then! Have fun with it. To start us off here I am after my hot, humid, sauna like run here this morning. After today – for those of you that have zero interest in working out – I’ll just be posting #PSFitClub photos on Instagram🙂

And now the reason behind #PSFitClub – so I can continue to drink wine, eat chocolate and wear fabulous clothes! Here’s what I’ve worn so far this week.

Poppy's Style

My blog about fashion, family, friends and fun.

Tag Archives: Zara

Some last minute sale purchases.

Feeding my need for harems.

A wedding, in the square, in the village, in N. Cyprus.

Finding our groove.

Still in her 30s

Dress – T-shirt dress James Perse (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Shoes – Isabel Marant Bobby Sneakers // Scarf – J.Crew (old)

Home comforts.

Jacket – Zara TRF (old) // T-shirt – Gap // Jeans – Asos Saxby // Sneakers – Golden Goose

Flip flops – Havaianas // Cardigan – Boden (30% off everything till 24th June!!) Limited Edition sparkle pocket cardigan (old)

The sales are on!!

My new dress.

Trousers – Zara (no longer on website here) // Top – Boden Breton (Tops currently 30% off!) // Shoes – Tory Burch silver Eddie flats (similar here on sale)

A new adventure for us.

Trousers – Zara sarong style trousers // Tank – J.Crew (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Sandals – Sam Edelman Gigi // Earrings – Forever 21 gold leaf (old)

Just for fun.

Trousers – J.Crew factory (old) // Shirt – J.Crew popover // Shoes – Nine West

Dress – Asos // Boots – Rag & Bone canvas Newburys // Sunglasses – Chanel

Sandals – Zara // Jeans – Zara (old) // Top – Zara // Bag – Alexander Wang Rocco

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Dress – T-shirt dress James Perse (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Shoes – Isabel Marant Bobby Sneakers // Scarf – J.Crew (old)

Related articles

Share this:

Jacket – Zara TRF (old) // T-shirt – Gap // Jeans – Asos Saxby // Sneakers – Golden Goose

Flip flops – Havaianas // Cardigan – Boden (30% off everything till 24th June!!) Limited Edition sparkle pocket cardigan (old)

Related articles

Share this:

Related articles

Share this:

Trousers – Zara (no longer on website here) // Top – Boden Breton (Tops currently 30% off!) // Shoes – Tory Burch silver Eddie flats (similar here on sale)

Related articles

Share this:

Trousers – Zara sarong style trousers // Tank – J.Crew (old) // Jacket – Zara (old) // Sandals – Sam Edelman Gigi // Earrings – Forever 21 gold leaf (old)

Related articles

Share this:

Trousers – J.Crew factory (old) // Shirt – J.Crew popover // Shoes – Nine West

Dress – Asos // Boots – Rag & Bone canvas Newburys // Sunglasses – Chanel

Sandals – Zara // Jeans – Zara (old) // Top – Zara // Bag – Alexander Wang Rocco

Related articles

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