Summer Wishlist with Topman's SS15 Collection

After spontaneously booking a holiday to Bulgaria with my main one Britt ("It's Britney Bitch!") last night and Summer ever approaching I have decided to scour through Topman's Spring/Summer collection to find some new pieces to add to my Summer wardrobe and in this post I am going to rundown some of my favourite Topman finds that I ultimately want for the upcoming months.

Topman is one of the biggest high-street stores around and has taken the rightful spot at the top for being one of the best Mens Fashion stores in the UK - in my opinion.

With that said I have always considered Topman one of my favourite stores alongside Urban Outfitters, All Saints, and my favourite hidden/unknown vintage stores in Bristol. Topman is so effortlessly fashionable and is forever on top with trends and creating their very own. 

Simple Summer Look

Hey guys & welcome back to my blog.

Forget about #ThrowbackThursday it's about #ThrowbackTuesday on my blog today and I am introducing you to one of my simple Summer looks that I wore frequently throughout the Summer of 2014 - simple, but a personal favourite of mine to say the least.

We all know I'm an advocate for a contemporary outfit - I tend to stick to black and white pieces and layer up with different pieces on top and that is no different with today's #throwback look. 

As we can all see I am wearing a simple black and white look (no surprises there). I am wearing an everyday essential white crew neck tee-shirt from Primark. White tee shirts are a necessity in a Male & Female's wardrobe as they're ideal to layer up with a variety of different pieces. Think of the white shirt as a canvas that you can paint on, it's a simple background item that you can vocalise by adding and layering different pieces on top.

The Breton Striped Shirt | River Island

Surprise. I'm back (this is almost as good as Beyonce dropping that iconic surprise album, and when I say almost I really mean this is much better)

You might of been wondering where I have been for almost three weeks (most likely not because you have better things to worry about then an eighteen year old blogger). As you may have gathered from my previous post I have been working full time since October since leaving College and the post explains my current state which includes working almost every day and going out on the town every weekend (and our Weston treasure that is the "Thirsty Thursday"). I go on to explain in the post I haven't been able to blog in a very long time and finding the time to do is almost a rarity but yesterday afternoon I took the time to go out with my best friend Emily (or as I like to call her Cren) for a stroll and take some photos which you will soon feast your eyes on.

In today's post I will be running down one of my favourite Spring/Summer trends that is the "Breton Striped" top (or you can simply call it a striped tee shirt if you wish but being a #blogger I just can't do that). Stripes are such a natural print to have on a shirt and almost everyone has something striped in their ever growing wardrobe.

Balancing a Blog With a Job & Your Social Life

At the tender age of eighteen I'm still living the high life that every teenager should do - this includes days out with friends, nights out on the town and so much more but besides hanging out with friends and having endless nights with my Spotify playlists and Twitter I also work full time at Next whilst writing a blog - sounds fairly simple right? Not.

"Teenagers have it easy" - the elder like to say but if you work as much as me and struggle to find time to do things you love to do it can prove pretty exhausting. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job at Next in which I've worked there almost three years. I have the best friends and times there and I work almost non stop which I adore as pay day always proves to be very pretty. 

Quitting College (my dreadful third year may I add, I did do a two year Media Course which I passed with a delightful DDM) and entering a world of full time work I knew was going to be strenuous but very rewarding. I work so much to the point I did sixteen days in a row without a break which was exhausting.

The Indie Cindy Tracklist | Spotify

Hey guys how's everyone doing? Happy first day of Spring may I add - please endure the next few weeks of blossoming flowers and easter eggs.

Every month without fail I like to introduce to you to a new playlist of mine that I have been obsessing over. I intended to upload this post at the beginning of March but with difficulties with the Spotify widget it pushed back the date of this post - until today. Initially this post was featuring some of my favourite slow jam tracks including the likes of Drake, Chris Brown, Kanye and so forth but in the past few weeks I've found myself listening to some of my favourite bands that I featured in my January playlist - my very first.

This month I have created the "Indie Cindy" playlist in which I have compiled a bunch of indie/rock music that I love and listen to on a daily basis. Some of the artists include my absolute favourites which are, Royal Blood, Peace, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Bastille and the Arctic Monkeys. 

Spring Scents | Calvin Klein & Paco Rabanne

I and a lot of other males are long gone from the days we would spend our pocket change on Lynx Africa thinking we were some sort of irresistible human being that could attract anyone or anything with the sweet smells of a four pound aerosol can, but those days gradually went by when the teenager and adult in ourselves discovered cologne - our saviour.

If you're like me then smelling good is one of the most important things in my daily routine and forgetting to do so is my biggest nightmare. So in this post I am going to recommend you some of my favourite spring scents and colognes that I love to wear on almost a daily basis.

Like I've mentioned smelling good is extremely important and having a scent that smells just perfect is a necessity. Long gone are the days of aerosol cans, yes sometimes they smell nice and feel almost refreshing with the crisp scented air hitting your body but are they long lasting? No. This is why you need to make room on your shelf for the perfect cologne. 

Colognes and Aftershaves come in a variety of different scents by different brands and my two ultimate go to smells are those from Calvin Klein and Pac Rabanne.

Instagram Feeds

We live in a world where taking photographs is the normal, every day millions and millions of photographs are taken and shared on plenty of different social media platforms, such as the highly popular Instagram.

Instagram if you didn't know/and were living under a rock is one of the many popular social media applications that everyone uses on the daily to upload their favourite photographs for the world to see. Whether it be a selfie from when you were painting the town red on a Saturday night, a photograph of the lunch you had today or a random photograph that's been living in your camera roll for years that you hashtag with #ThrowbackThursday the world will see it.

In most recent Instagram has become a place where teenagers have so become obsessed with the look of their account and feeds that posting photos without a care like it used to has become a stone age trend. 

The Flannel Shirt | Urban Renewal

Hey Guys, how's everyone doing?

In today's post I am bringing you my latest outfit of the day look and talking all about it, so feast your eyes on my latest look and let me know what you think in the comment section below.

Everyone's style changes day to day, I go through stages where I wear nothing but black and other days I like to create some of my favourite vintage looks and yesterday was no exception.

Me and my good friend Jessie took a day trip to Bristol yesterday where we spent the day shopping in Cabot Circus, eating our body weight in Frankie and Benny's deliciousness and taking style photos for my blog which I am bringing you today.

The Flannel shirt is one of my favourite pieces and in my eyes never really gone out of style and they are a key piece to have in your ever growing wardrobe. 

Checkered shirts are an essential that everyone has, they come in a range of colours/tones and you can mix and match them with plenty of looks, but not everyone's checkered shirts are of flannel material which is currently on the rise.

Blog Refresh

Hey guys - how's everyone doing? I'd like to first of all say thank you for making me reach 300 followers - I woke up in much delight after seeing that so thank you for support, taking the time to read weekly and so forth.

I've done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks and I have been wanting to refresh my blog for some time now (nothing major just incase you were wondering)

Schedule:

Bloggers will know that blogging can be deemed a full time thing, writing posts, taking photos and updating your blog can sometimes take a lot of time out of your day and working almost full time on top of that means it can be hard to balance the two.

I work almost every day at my job at Next and fitting a blog between that can sometimes prove difficult, however I try my hardest to update you with weekly posts. I aim to write almost three to four posts a week so I know there is plenty of content for you to feast your eyes on.

Personal Goals | The Year To Remember

In today's post I am going to run down some of the things I want to achieve this year to make it worth remembering.  During this past month I have taken a lot of time to think what I want to do and achieve this year and make it one to remember.

Being eighteen opens up so many doors and creates so many more opportunities. I have been eighteen for almost half a year now and it has been nothing but spectacular. The eighteenth year has allowed me to do so much more than ever before and this is why this year, 2015, I created a list of things I want to do to make it a year worth looking back on.

Travel and Holidays;

This year I am to go abroad. I have been able to travel the world for so many years with the help of parents, I've seen glorious places including the history of Rome, the city life of New York, the parisian life style of Paris and so many more incredible places but this has been under the wings of parents where as this year I am to travel and go on holidays with friends.

Travelling on my own/with friends is nothing out of the ordinary, I've taken day trips/weekends away at festivals with friends before so I'm used to the independent lifestyle however going abroad without parents is something I've never done.

London

Hello guys and in today's post I am going to run down one of my recent trips to the big smoke - London. 

London. A place of dreams, history, delicious food, wonderful shopping and glorious views. London is a place I love and consider it my second home.

London is a place I visit every year without fail and this because most of my family are from the capital and I have been able to go endless amount of times which  love. This year was a far from normal as this was the first time I was going to London on my own which was daunting to say the least. What made this years trip to London different is that a good friend of mine, George, whom I've known for almost fifteen years studies Politics at Westminster University and kindly invited me to stay for a few days and get an outlook of London life through a students pair of eyes which was ever so exciting.

We keep in contact and talk almost every week which is important because it's special to me to keep in contact with old friends. For a few months now we discussed the idea of me coming up to London and staying a few days to experience Uni life in it's fullest and see the world George now lives in.

The Everyday Blogger Day Out & Travel Essentials

Hey guys, welcome back to my blog and in today's post I am going to run down some of the essentials every blogger should have with them whether they're on a day out with friends or preparing to travel the world.

So without further or do here are my Travel and Day Out essentials for the blogger next door.

Headphones

Headphones are a necessity whether you're travelling the world or getting a bus to your local high street and this is why I recommend this vital gadget for you to have with you this year.

There are a ton of headphones on the market but which ones perfect for you?

If you're an iPhone/iPod user then you're used to your average Apple headphones but move them aside and grab yourself the Beats Solo HD - I recently was given these Matte Black wonders for Christmas and they've been nothing but wonderful. 

Beats are one of the biggest or the biggest headphone manufacturer in the world with tons of people joining the bandwagon to grab a pair and jam out to their favourite music.

I recommend the Solo HD because they are lightweight headphones that come in a variety of colours. You can chose from a range or colours in which I chose black (predictable) but they deliver the most amazing sound to the point you could be lip synching to Kanye West with someone walking in without you realising  - been there, done that. 

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Hello you - after a short hiatus I'm back, I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted, how unlikely of me. I've been in London for a few days but I am back in the not so sunny Somerset to post daily for you.

In today's post I have been nominated by my good friend Jessie of taylormayed.blogspot.co.uk to do the Very Inspiring Blogger Award which some of you may have judged from the title.

This post requires me to write seven facts about myself in which you will get to know me that little bit more. I will also be tagging some of my favourite fellow bloggers to do the same, so without further or do here are some little facts about me.

Fact Number One:

If you didn't already know I have an undying love for a programme called Big Brother. No matter how many times I tell someone or write it down I can never get across the unconditional love I have for this specific programme - some people are in a Harry Potter fandom, but this is my fandom and the only one I have ever joined. 

I have been following the programme since a very early age and have watched every series (even the very first on YouTube as I was only five when this programme initially started). Now I'm not just an average viewer, I'm a hardcore fan without a serious amount of passion for the programme, the people, the producers, the set and everything else.

The Grazebox

In today's post I am going to be talking about my latest discovery - The Grazebox. Now us bloggers have probably all heard of the grazebox whether it being aired as an advert on TV, YouTubers endorsing the brand or bloggers insightful posts about them.

Now if you don't know what the Grazebox is then have you been doing a Patrick Star and living beneath a rock - I hope not. Graze is a online food manufacture than encourages every day people by eating new and innovative snacks delivered through the post (cool right?).

Setting up your Grazebox is simple as pie, I signed up using my good friend, Jessie's friend code which allowed me to get my first, fifth and tenth box free which was great and you go through a few about you steps, in put your bank details and there you go, the site is yours, yours for you to browse through yummy looking snacks that you'd like to see in your box.

The great thing about Graze is that it offers almost everything - every snack you could possibly think of and more... and by more I mean some that you might not of thought of eating, and don't worry if you have allergies or you're a vegetarian then they cater to you too (how welcoming of them). 

Like I said, Graze has a variety of foods for you to choose from. You go through different categories of food and chose whether you want to bin the item, like the item, love the item or send it soon. I recommend choosing "love the item" on some of your personal favourites therefore there's a better chance of those delicious goodies being in your box.

The Bomber Jacket | Burtons

In today's post I am going to talk about one of my latest purchases - the ever so stylish and on trend bomber jacket from Burtons.

Recently with two of my good friends I visited and took a wander around Cabot Circus which is my local shopping centre in which I was looking for new additions for my wardrobe - although I should be saving, my bad. 

The shopping trip was a weird one - nonetheless a great one. I decided to try something new and venture into new stores that I never really tend to browse in and see if I could find anything that I liked, which I ended up doing.

Judging by the title you will realise that Burtons was one of the many stores I visited. Burtons is a shop that stores mens clothing that is usually suitable for the twelve year old boy who is trying to find his style and older men trying to look ever so hip and on trend. However Burtons had some really nice new pieces in that I was contemplating buying which really surprised me as I tend to shop in Topman, Urban Outfitters and All Saints therefore it made a nice change and refreshing to see something new.

Whilst waiting for my friends to finish looking through Miss Selfridge I browsed some of the new stock of Burtons in which I found something I had been after for ages - the bomber jacket. The bomber jacket is this seasons Spring essential for all men, the fleece lined non-collared jacket is doing the rounds around fashion stores and is perfect for every on trend males wardrobe - including me.

YouTube

YouTube a site that was originally a place for people to store their videos: for example a place for you to show the world what you're cat was doing they you found endlessly amusing or for you to store that video you created in your bedroom signing along to Airplanes by B.o.B and Hayley Williams, good examples I know.

But we live in a world where social media is becoming one of the most important things in our lives: everyday people are so consumed like me by others on these so called sites. 

YouTube has not only been a place for you to watch endless cat videos or your favourite musicians music videos but it's now a place where we can watch we what call - YouTubers. The YouTuber is just like me and you, the average person documenting their lives online with a video camera - sounds crazy right? But we've all watched a YouTuber whether you realise it or not.

Alongside blogging, YouTube and YouTubers are something I've been passionate for since I was eleven and I was so consumed by watching people I love on a weekly basis. 

Successful YouTubers such as Zoella, Pointless Blog, Sprinkle of Glitter were all people I discovered prior to the fame they have now: believe it or not I was a loyal viewer since 2011 and it's crazy to see their journey they've been on along with other notorious YouTubers. 

You're probably thinking where are you going with this blog post? But I have been going back and forth on the idea of starting a YouTube channel for almost a few months now. YouTubers are people I idolise and to even achieve half of things they're doing is beyond my wildest dreams.

The Groovy Tracklist | Spotify

February the first already? I know it's cliche to say and we are only a month in but seriously

where is time going already?

Now let's forget that me worrying that times going fast and I'm getting older each and every day. It's a new month which means I want I want to introduce you to a new playlist to get your February live and kicking (subtle reference to a 90's show there).

If you didn't already know, I have a very versatile music taste and accept listening to all genres of music without a care and most recently I have been travelling back to my roots and listening to the old funky R&B and Pop (damn I hate using the term pop) music I grew up with and create a playlist for you to listen to it and even find that song you've been searching for, for months. (trust it's a much cooler playlist than I'm making it sound). 

Blogging | Tips and Tricks

Hello Guys. Thank god it's Friday - where's this week going?

In today's post I am going to run down some tips and tricks in how to find your blog, make it personal to you and how to attract your following.

Now you might be thinking - "Charlie, you've only been blogging since December?". Correct, I have, but I have been reading and following blogs/bloggers for almost two to three years now so along the way I have found what makes a blog worth reading - including my very own.

Tip One: "Find your niche!"

Every blogger has there niche, whether it be fashion, personal style, make up, food, music and so forth. When reading mine you've realised my blogger has a series of categories such as mens fashion, lifestyle posts, music and travel.

Bloggers need to find there niche so they know what to post about and what theme to stick to. I know having a mens fashion blog that I can't talk about horse riding (prime example I know) as it will only just throw you and your followers off - yes it might be an interesting post but this isn't what your followers have followed you for.

When finding your niche chose something you enjoy outside of blogging, so that when it comes to writing your blog post it's not something that you'll get bored of.

Two Hundred

Happy Thursday - how's everyone doing?

I am happy to announce in todays post I have hit the big two hundred on my blog - yes I have hit two hundred followers on my Bloglovin' page. I initially started this blog back in December of last year and I have found it incredible how every thing is going since starting my blog. 

No matter how many followers I earn, blogging will always be about fun for me - I started this blog as a hobby which it still is but to gain a growing following each day is incredible and makes blogging that little bit more exciting. 

If you haven't followed my blog already then feel free to follow my Bloglovin' page here

To everyone that's followed thank you and I hope you've enjoyed my content so far, also feel free to recommend my blog to others as I would really appreciate that.

The Ripped Denim Jacket | Loot

The denim jacket. Everyone has one. Everyone who doesn't - needs one.

Denim Jackets were once popular in the 80's and 90's with hard core colourful punks and Irish pop stars (B*Witched remember them?) rocking them but I have found they've never lost their appeal.

Prior to owning a denim jacket I have always saw them as the answer to the double denim horror but how I was wrong. Denim Jackets have taken a worthy place of approval in my wardrobe and I find them the perfect piece of clothing to mix and match with. 

I have owned several denim jackets and my current favourite is the ripped Levi's denim jacket from my local vintage store Loot in Bristol. I have unconditional love for vintage stores and always find that they are my favourite stores alongside the high-street. I have been a loyal customer of Loot for almost a year now so I know their store is best when it comes to wanting to add to my vintage clothing collection.

What's so appealing about Loot is that not only there choices in clothing but their unbelievable prices, I was lucky enough to grab this denim jacket for an incredible £22 which is a great price to pay for something like this. Denim jackets tend to range from £30-50 so being able to get one at this price was something I wasn't expecting.

The Instax

Today's Monday and that means it's a new week and a new blog post so without further or do I bring you today's post.

We live in era of digital photography where we take photos on our phone and upload them to every social media platform for the world to see but what makes that any fun?

Yes I'm guilty of a selfie or two so I can capture memories between friends and family but with the introduction of the Instax Mini my opinions changed. If you don't know what the Fujfilm Instax Mini is, it's the reinvention of what was the classic Polaroid - the instant photography device that was at it's peak in the 80's and 90's where you could capture pictures with a single button and that would last years on square shaped photographic paper, but after the creation of SLR's and camera phones we saw the idea of instant photography nothing but a stone age trend.

Polaroids were always something that I thought were far cool beyond belief, the idea of capturing a day out, a holiday, a memory in one pint-sized photo was so exciting. 

Then along came my 18th birthday where I was handed the Instax Mini 8 as a gift from my sister. I opened the box in excitement knowing that my room was soon going to full of little photos that I have taken with this vintage-esque device. The little photographic pod in matte black was coming with me everywhere, from Paris to days out with friends where I took photos to remember for a life time.

Favourite Blogger Reads

Hey guys - how's everyone doing? 

In today's post I am going to run down some of my favourite blogger reads of most recent. Despite blogging for just a few months now I have always had a love for bloggers for so many years now and they're the main reason as to why I have started up my very own blog.

In this post I am going feature a wide range of bloggers whether they be high profile or if they're just starting out. All the Bloggers I have chosen are ones I read on a daily basis so if you have any that I think I've missed out then feel free to leave your blogger recommendations in the comment section below.

So without further or do: these are my favourite blogger reads.

Steve Booker

Where do I even begin? Just like we consider Michael Jackson the King of Pop and Elvis the King of Rock and Roll, I consider Steve Booker the King of Mens Fashion (can we make this a thing?). 

I have been following Steve's blog and YouTube for almost a year now and I have been a loyal reader ever since. Steve was one of the main inspirations as to why I started a blog, his eye for style and photography is everything that I love.

My Must Hear Tracklist | Spotify

Hello Guys - How's everyone doing? In today's post I am going to rundown some of my favourite songs that I've been listening to on Spotify and collect them all and put them in one great playlist for you to listen too.

Spotify is incredible. Hands down. I never joined the bandwagon prior until late December where I thought it would be a great investment and it sure was - the possibility to access all my favourite music and listen to it on the go was extremely enticing and it couldn't help myself joining the Premium subscription. 

What makes Spotify great is that you access to music of all genres and era's, you have the worlds largest music catalogue in your palms which is brilliant.

Blogging Goals

In today's post I am going to run down some of my blogging goals for 2015. If you didn't already know prior to my current blog I have been blogging on and off for under a year now. I initially started this blog back in early 2014 and posted frequently for six months.

The first time blogging was so exciting, I entered a world I wasn't so familiar with but I knew that with my passion for writing and style I knew that this was a place I would feel most at ease. 

However after having no time and feeling as if my posts weren't as good as they could be I started fresh this December with a new look, new way of writing and the biggest amount of passion to start something again that I adore: which is blogging. 

So without further or do I am going to rundown some of the most important goals that I want to achieve with my blog this year:

The Suede Desert Boots | Next

In today's post I am going to introduce you to a new piece in my wardrobe, the brown suede desert boots from Next. What makes this exciting is that these are the first pair of smart/casual shoes I have owned in a long time and prior to this I was a fond believer that Converse were the perfect casual shoe for every outfit (oh how I was wrong)

To be honest shoes are my least favourite item to buy: I have always found myself living in Converses every single day as these were what I was most comfortable in, this is until I discovered the desert boot which I instantly fell in love with.

One of my style icons, Harry Styles is forever seen in boots such as Desert Boots and this made them that ever so more enticing. Next, which is the store I work in had a range of Desert Boots that instantly caught my eye, they had a range of three colours from cream, brown and black and I knew that I could style the brown pair the best. The shoes cost £48 pounds which I thought was a worthy price to pay for a nice pair of shoes.

Styling these shoes is a lot of fun to do, mixing and matching different items of clothing to wear with the shoes was something I thoroughly enjoyed. I took a lot of inspiration from Harry Styles wardrobe and paired the shoes with some black skinny jeans and a basic white crew neck tee shirt and I found this was such an effortlessly fashionable look which I adore.

The Vintage Dunlop Barrel Bag | Topman

In today's post I am going to introduce you to one of my new favourite pieces in my wardrobe - the vintage Dunlop barrel bag I bought in the Topman sale a few weeks ago.

With my style ever changing and growing I decided to treat myself to a new sort of bag, as always throughout my life I'd find myself having a rucksack or dual string bag to use on the go but the rising popularity of the man bag has given me a new outlook on style.

The man bag has been on the rise since high profile figures such as vlogger Jim Chapman, singer Harry Styles and model Oliver Cheshire have been using them. Instead of having a normal brief case style man bag I thought to stick to my vintage-esque roots and get a vintage Dunlop barrel bag, now I have seen the barrel bag been worn by lots of Instagram followers and I couldn't help by joining the bandwagon myself and get one.

I discovered the bag on a recent trip to my local shopping complex that is Cabot Circus in Bristol and the £20 price tag in Topman couldn't keep me from throwing out my wallet and purchasing the item in a instant rush. 

The Oversized Wool Coat | Banana Republic

Surprise. I'm back.

After a month away from blogging I have finally found the time to do what I love. With quitting College and entering the world of work I have been nothing but busy but today I had my first day off in a long while and I decided to whip out the camera, throw on a wool coat and enter what was the windiest day in Weston.

But enough about that, today I wanted to show you one of my new favourite pieces in my ever growing wardrobe - my new oversized black wool coat from Banana Republic. I have loved oversized wool coats for a while now since I saw one of my style icons Harry Styles wear it out and about not long ago and ever since then I have been after the perfect one to add to my wardrobe.

With a much lower budget than Styles I had to search high and low for a cheaper equivalent of his perfect coat. Doing this I took a day trip to Bath before Christmas where I came across a little store that I wasn't so familiar with, this being Banana Republic. Now I'm an advocate for stores such as Topman, All Saints and Urban Outfitters but I expanded my horizons and tried out a store I wasn't so familiar with.