My graduation #OOTD

On Tuesday, I had the great honour of graduating with the rest of my course mates and friends at the Bournemouth International Centre.  It was a tiring but great day, and it was brilliant to walk across the stage, wave to my family, and receive my degree.  To be honest, I didn’t have a massive budget to put together my graduation outfit, but in the end I was extremely happy with how I looked during the day.  If you’re looking to graduate on a budget, hopefully this will give you some ideas.

Check out the beautiful photography by my sister!

So proud to have received my degree.

My friend Lois was wearing the same dress as me, so you know it’s a good choice.

Dress: New Look, £28, link here
Boots: Primark, I can’t remember the exact price but they were under £20
Earrings: Flying Tiger, £3
Necklace and Bracelet: Gifts from my grandparents

I was pretty happy with the earrings I bought from Flying Tiger, considering I only purchased them the day before graduation! I did have a back-up pair in case I couldn’t pick up a gold pair, but I’m glad I managed to find these.  I didn’t even realise that Flying Tiger sold earrings, so it was a nice surprise to pick them up.

I was also extremely happy with my dress.  I tried on four different dresses in New Look, and after a lot of deliberation the burgundy dress was the one I picked.  You can’t see in the photos, but this dress has small cap sleeves, which I like because I get self conscious about the top of my arms.  I also really like that the dress has a tie at the back, which helped to emphasise my waist…again, not particularly visible with the graduation gown over the top, but it still acted as a confidence booster.

The boots were pretty comfortable to wear, considering I only took the label off of them on the morning of the ceremony!  The heels were chunky which meant they were easy to walk in, and not too high so there was no risk of me falling over on the stage.  They had gold detailing on the heel, which matched all of my jewellery and made them look and feel a bit more special.

I hope my #OOTD has given some of you some inspiration!  Did you find any bargain graduation buys this year? Let me know your thoughts on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

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Guest video review: Years & Years, Bournemouth International Centre

A note from altrocklife: Hey everyone! I know Years & Years aren’t the type of music I usually cover on this blog, but secretly I’m a big fan!  My fellow Bournemouth University student Lois Shearing from Faithfull Words went to see them at the BIC and reported back about their performance.

Years and Years are a three-piece band whose sound is described as ‘electropop’. They reached number one in March 2015 with their single King and had a number two hit with Shine. The trio’s début album Communion entered the UK album charts at number one, while shifting 9K copies in the US in its first week. Years and Years are noted for having one of the few openly gay front men in the pop industry.

Review: Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair Bournemouth, February 8 2015

Regular altrocklife readers will remember my excitement at attending Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair, held in Bournemouth’s beautiful Pavilion in October last year.  If not, feel free to refresh your memory.

This building is so beautiful. Gotta love a bit of art deco.

Well, Lou Lou returned to the south coast yesterday, and my bank balance is still recovering.  As much as I enjoyed the fair there were noticeably fewer traders set up this time around.  On the plus side, it meant there was more space for the flocking crowds to browse, but the downside was much less choice than the fair in October.

Even with the reduced number of traders, I still visited a lot of stalls and made quite a few purchases.  Take a peek at my haul, and please excuse my pirate themed desk-topper.  Maturity is my middle name.

This shirt is a surprisingly good fit, and the material feels high quality.

Check out those snazzy buttons.

I guarantee that you don’t love mermaids as much as I love mermaids.

I simpy couldn’t resist adding to my jewellery collection.

To me, this necklace is simple but elegant.

Shirt: £25
Ring: £3
Necklaces: (Can’t remember if these were from Vintage Promise or Vintagelady, oops!) 2 for £10

I also picked a little something up from Sarah’s Victoriously Vintage, but I haven’t included a picture as it’ll be my Mum’s Mother’s Day present this year and I don’t want her getting a sneak peek.

Overall, I’d argue that I had an extremely successful shopping day.  Now I’m waiting for an excuse to wear my snazzy new shirt out, and I’ll be wearing plenty of blue so I can coordinate and match my new necklaces.

Currently listening to: I Am Electric – Heaven’s Basement