50 shades of pastel

I'm so happy that Spring is coming, and bringing with it an excuse to wear pastel colours every day of the week. I think pastels are an easy way to add colour to your wardrobe (I wear black, white and grey so often that I'm starting to feel like I belong inside a 1930s TV) without being too bright or bold. As you can see, my pastel collection is really starting to shape up. I'm torn between which pastel colour is my favourite right now (although they're all dreamy); lilac is my latest obsession, and I've got a soft spot for yellow (I just think it fits in with Spring so perfectly). But then again, there's a little girl in all of us who just can't resist a bit of pink. I'll go from left to right, top to bottom.

1. Lilac bodycon dress with mesh waistline

You probably recognise this from my last blogpost; it turns out I couldn't even wait until payday to buy it. It was £24.99 from Missguided but I had to take advantage of Missguided giving 15% off everything the other day (to celebrate their 5th birthday of course). That made it even better value for money than it already was! (I got free delivery aswell for some unknown reason so I saved loads of money overall). It's a really nice fit and the sleeves are a nice flattering length (I think I've got a bit of an obsession with sleeve lengths), plus the material is really soft so its comfortable too. The colour is beyond lush and the mesh detail makes it dressier and keeps it from being too simple. It's also a good length as it doesn't ride up too much, and even when it does, it's still at a safe length to not be flashing anyone. Style it with white or cream barely-there-heel sandals, white or cream clutch bag (obviously match the colour of the bag to the colour of the shoes) and a statement necklace and you've got the perfect look for either date night or going out for cocktails with the girls.

2. Pink crop top with mesh detail

Again, a Missguided favourite of mine. I have to say they're doing pastels very well, probably better than any other high street shop at the minute. This top was only £17.99, making it a real bargain. The colour is really feminine and the mesh detail gives it a little something extra, and I think the boxy style is really flattering. It is a crop top though so if you're not that confident (or it's not that warm) then pair it with something high-waisted. I don't think you can go wrong with the pink-and-grey combination, so I often wear this with grey high-waisted jeans (Joni jeans from Topshop), black heeled boots and black bag (mines from accessorize). Add a simple chain necklace or small hoop earrings (and a watch of course, always a watch) and you're all set for a day of shopping or a trip into town for lunch.

3. Yellow sleeveless top

This appeared in my very first blogpost and was £25 from River Island. I'd say that was quite expensive for just a plain top, but I fell in love with the colour and the fabric is nice and thick so it keeps its shape. Grey works well with yellow aswell as pink, and I try to avoid matching yellow with black when I can because you do risk looking a bit bee-like. I think gold jewellery with yellow is a must; the more the better! I also like to wear this top with my heeled shoes with gold buckles (from Topshop), because adding more gold can't be a bad thing. It's a nice simple outfit and something that I'd typically wear for college, although I don't wear the shoes a lot as no matter how much I try and "bed them in", they still hurt my feet whenever I wear them.

4. Lilac cami top

You can't go wrong with a simple cami. They're feminine and flattering and you can get them in pretty much every colour or shade you can think of. This one was only £9.99 from new look (dirt cheap basically) but you can get them from Topshop, river island and loads of other places too. My lilac love was strong when I was looking for a new cami, so I bought this one and I love it. The only downside with it being so cheap is that its a thin material and therefore quite see-through, so choose wisely when picking a bra to wear under it. Cami's are so versatile; wear it with dogtooth trousers and barely-there-heel black sandals to go out for drinks, or with black and white floral shorts and silver glittery jelly shoes (juju jellies of course) when the weather starts warming up.

5. Lilac dogtooth cropped cami top

My two great loves rolled into one item of clothing (lilac and dogtooth); it's literally like a dream come true. And my love of Missguided pops up again; this was only £9.99 (even less with student discount) so I really couldn't say no. It's a really nice fabric although the fit isn't great; it gapes at the sides so I can only assume that the person who designed it forgot that they were designing it for women and that women have boobs. I also don't really like the straps as they're made of elastic rather than fabric so they dig in a bit. The print makes up for all that though. The colour is perfect and feminine without being too girly, and as you know I have a wide dogtooth collection. So I've tried and tested all the varying sizes of dogtooth print and I have to say that this size is my favourite. Any smaller and it can look checked, any bigger and you lose the detail and sharpness. So they've found the perfect in-between. This top would look nice with white high waisted jeans or trousers (something I don't own yet but they're firmly on my to-buy list) and barely-there-heels, or if you want to dress it up more then a white asymmetrical skirt. Now I just need to invest in the perfect lilac lipstick to go with all these lilac clothes.

6. White boxy top with pink and grey checked print

This is one of my latest buys from new look and was only £14.99 on the website, but I had a discount code for £10 off when you spend £50 so after I added a few more things to my basket, it ended up being even cheaper. It really is worth signing up to the emails from shops; I know you think they'll just spam your inbox everyday but I've saved so much money from codes I've been sent and free delivery that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I love this top because it's not completely plain but the print and the pastel colours keep it subtle. I also love the fact that the grey in the print perfectly (like literally perfectly) matches the grey of my favourite Topshop jeans, which is what I often wear it with (I pretty much wear them with everything actually), with white leather converse and silver chain necklace; a nice casual look for college or a chilled-out girls night.

7. Mint green top with flower detail

I've had this for ages now; it was £32 from Topshop, but I did get my student discount so it worked out a bit cheaper. I love mint green and I love that it's nice and pale and not too bright, and the flowers along the neckline section make it one of the prettiest things I own. It's a thin, sheer fabric and so normally it would end up being see-through and I'd have to ruin the look of it by putting a cami under it to protect my dignity, but I'm really impressed with the design of it as the front is double-layered. If the whole thing was double layered you might end up getting it all twisted round and mixed up, but with just the front being doubled it means you don't have to worry about your bra showing, but there's still a hint of sexiness with a see-through back. It goes well with light grey jeans (Joni from Topshop again, although different to the ones I've mentioned before as I have dark grey and light grey) and black heeled boots. If you add a necklace then you'll ruin the detail of the flowers so just add a watch and some nice earrings and your ready for a cinema trip or nice meal out.

8. Blue boxy top

Another new look style steal (only £12.99 I couldn't refuse!!). It's a really nice fit and the sleeves are flattering; plus the fabrics really comfortable. The colour is gorgeous but it is quite awkward as you obviously can't wear it with blue jeans. I'd normally wear it with black jeans and either black heeled boots or white leather converse depending on the occasion. Finish it off with a statement necklace and colour-pop lips. You don't have to worry about lipsticks either because everything contrasts with blue so nothing can clash. Pink, red, coral, purple; take your pick!

9. Pink top with silver thread detailing

This was a diamond-in-the-rough type of find in Primark last month. You can find some real gems in Primark, it's just a case of rifling through all the crap first to get to them. This was only £12 and was the most expensive thing in my basket (you can't argue with their prices, I got 3 tops for less than the price of one top in Topshop). It's really simple; it's a nice fit and the colour isn't overly bright or Barbie-like, and the silver thread detailing running throughout it adds a bit of something to it. I often wear it with one of my pairs of grey jeans (winning combination and all that), or you could wear it with pale blue jeans (Joni from Topshop again, I think they're the nicest fit) and brown heeled boots. Dress it up with your favourite accessories and you're ready for whatever plans you may have!