H E A R T A U T U M N

I mean, the blog name makes it kind of obvious, but if you didn't know, Autumn is my favourite of the seasons. It signifies the end of summer (my least favourite time of year), there's crunchy leaves making everything look pretty, it's getting darker for cosy evenings with cosy blankets, good TV series start up again and it's just WHOLESOME. We have Halloween and Bonfire Night (questionable though it's reasons) and the build up to Christmas begins; I mean, what's not to love? I wrote a post last year on my favourite things about Autumn and it still remains one of my favourite posts that I've put together. I remember I'd just got the 45mm lens for my Olympus Pen and I went down to the park with my tripod and just spent ages playing around, getting the shots that I wanted and trying new things. So please revisit!



Amongst the many reasons for this being the best time of year comes the fashion. I am certainly not a fan of summer fashion, as I have written about many times before. Winter is arguably Autumn but with gloves and more layers. Spring is ok, but nothing beats an oversized jumper and chunky boot combo. Berets or baker boy hats; Faux fur coats or trench coats; there's just so much comfort in Autumn fashion and if you're not comfortable with skin on show or clingy clothes, it is IDEAL. I picked up this jumper along with another one when F&F at Tesco had 25% off and honestly, if you don't look in there for clothes then you're missing a treat. As much as I love chunky knitwear, I'm trying not to buy more this year. I already have plenty from previous years and it seems excessive to add to the stash! I do, however, want a new pair of OTK boots as mine constantly slip down the leg. So if you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments! (Stuart Weitzmans, I can not afford.)



So to express my love for all things autumnal in the best way, I roped my mum along into a trip to Farmer Copleys pumpkin festival. It's actually the first time I've been to a pumpkin patch and not just picked one up from the supermarket, and honestly, why has it taken me so long?! There were fields upon fields of pumpkins; big ones, small ones, green ones, white ones and warty ones, they had everything. There were tractor rides for kids and wheelbarrows for carrying your pumpkins (or again, kids) but we didn't bother with those. We just wandered the fields, looking at the different pumpkins and enjoying some autumn sunshine! There were animals on site too, a fancy farm shop and a lovely little cafe too.




Wearing:


Jumper, F&F at Tesco (not online)


Beret, Primark 


Jeans, H&M (old)


Boots, Dr Martens











I've never actually tried pumpkin in the form of eating it, (maybe I should, because I love squash and it's much like that, no?) but I am a big fan of carving pumpkins for Halloween. An afternoon spent watching Hocus Pocus and carving a villain of choice into a pumpkin is an afternoon well spent to me! Not to blow my own trumpet, but I'm rather good at carving and have previously done Scar from Lion King, Maleficent, The Joker and Gremlins. This years is still undecided so if you have a favourite bad guy who you think would make a good pumpkin (not Trump, please) then I'm all ears.

So back in July, I did my first 'Week In Outfits' post and really enjoyed sharing more of my day-to-day outfits with you all. It's not the easiest of posts to do, however, because making time to get a photo in a morning before work is much easier said than done, and if I'm going out after work or straight to the gym, I just forget about taking a photo altogether. So I haven't made time to do one since! But I decided to plan a week to do it again, which was technically the last week of September but we're still going with October in the title because otherwise I look very slack and we don't want that, do we!

Sunday

Wearing:


Shirt, New Look 


Jeans, Next (similar) 


Cardigan, Boohoo (no longer available)


Sunglasses, Ray-Ban 


Bag, Carvela 

Much a typical Sunday, I did the food shop and visited my Grandma, before heading into town for a little cinema trip (Mamma Mia 2 again, of course) and a visit to Pizza Express. Bold choice wearing white jeans to go for pizza but I (somehow) managed to not get a drop of tomato sauce on them! Go me!



Monday
Wearing: Jeans, Topshop - Shirt, ASOS (similar) - Belt, River Island (similar) - Boots, New Look (similar) - Jacket, vintage Burberry

After falling further in love with Lily James in Mamma Mia, I dragged the flares out of my wardrobe and made them more office friendly with a simple white shirt, old brown belt and some leopard print boots. Fun fact: we went down the lanes by my home to get this shot after work and a dog walker was coming out of the field. We stopped to let him pass but he decided he needed to sit and catch his breath so just watched us instead. How bloody lovely. Ugh.

Tuesday
Wearing: Playsuit, Topshop (no longer available) - Boots, New Look (similar)

I found this playsuit in my wardrobe and realised that I hadn't worn it in months, so obviously that had to change! I went for a simple black and white look all round and it was FAR too windy to even attempt getting a picture outside.

Wednesday

Wearing: Trousers, H&M - Jumper, Romwe - Boots, Zara (similar)

Wednesday was another wet and windy day, so I played it safe with another mirror selfie. I'm thinking of bring the mirror selfies back to instagram in a bid to enjoy it a bit more and make it less ~polished, if that makes sense? Anyway, stretchy trousers like these are perfect officewear for me and teaming yellow boots and jumper is just ideal, no? I'll bring my own sunshine kinda vibes.

Thursday

Wearing: Trousers, Zara (no longer available) - Tee, New Look (similar) - Jacket, Zara (no longer available) - Boots, New Look (similar)

For some reason, I thought the top of a hill would be a great place to take an outfit picture on a rather blustery day? The views are good but not the view of me with hair in my face! Anyway, who else is loving cords this season? These are actually from last year when I found them in the Zara sale, but I have refound my love for them and want everything corduroy now!

Friday

Wearing: T-shirt, People Tree - Jeans, Topshop (no longer available) - Trainers, Topshop

I actually had the day off on Friday and it's actually when I went to Tropical World to shoot the photos for my latest Sustainable Series post! So you should've already seen this outfit, meaning I don't need to talk more about it? I will say though that these jeans are just as uncomfortable as they look. Especially for sitting down for long periods of time, eek.

Saturday
Wearing: Jumpsuit, New Look - Hat, New Look - Trainers, Reebok Classics 

Saturdays are usually my 'do something fun' day, but on this occasion it was more of a 'get things done around the house' day. So I went for the comfiest jumpsuit ever paired with my new favourite baker boy hat for a trip to the farm shop, a few hours of ironing and some baking. I'm a big fan of a baker boy and a big fan of tartan so combining the two is the dream!

So far in this series, I've only discussed one sustainable clothing brand: Armedangels, who were the focus of my first instalment. And considering this is a largely fashion focused blog, I thought it was time to share another brand who can fill your wardrobe with ethical goodness! This one is more likely a brand you've already heard of? People Tree are one of the most popular suggestions when searching for sustainable fashion and are even available on ASOS for ~easy access~. 

I've been aware of People Tree for a while; aware that they're more ethical than a lot of clothing brands. But it's only the past year or so that I've a) been trying to buy more ethically, and b) been focusing on investing in better quality pieces for my wardrobe. It's no secret that ethically sourced clothing costs more, but it doesn't break the bank tbh. Invest in quality over quantity and you can't really go wrong can you. I've stopped buying lots of cute slogan tees at £8 and started buying better cute slogan tees for £30!




This is my first People Tree purchase and I was originally torn between this t-shirt and this one, both of which I'm a big fan of tbh. But in the end I chose this one because who doesn't love stripes? You can never have too many stripes in your wardrobe, and if they have a cute little smiling Earth on the front then that's just an added bonus isn't it! It's 100% organic cotton (as is every cotton that People Tree use) and it's super soft and comfy. I do usually prefer t-shirt sleeves to be a little longer, but I guess I should've maybe sized up for that! The quality is clear to see in how thick this is, it's definitely not your cheap fast fashion t-shirt, that's for sure! And I think I will definitely be looking at People Tree for more purchases in the future. I'm especially intrigued by the activewear now that I'm both going to the gym and practising yoga regularly, so that may be another post in the making!



When it comes to showcasing sustainable clothing, I like to find locations that seem well matched. For Armedangels I went for a nice, big, open field and now for People Tree I dragged my mum along to Tropical World! I say dragged, she was a very willing photographer. She didn't have to pay, she got to see cute creatures and spend the day with me, so what's not to love? I couldn't not share some of the other photos I got whilst there, so enjoy startled meerkats, gormless fish and an array of birds. Turns out butterflies are rather hard to photograph but I managed a couple! 
I know there's the whole issue of it technically being a zoo; it is a place that keeps animals in captivity and I'm normally all against this. Animals should be free to roam in the wild! But it's more of an educational place than anything else, and tbh I just wanted to see what it was like as I haven't been since I was a young child. There were clear issues! 
And I just wanted to mention this because we're not all perfect and please don't hate me for visiting.





Who Are People Tree?

People Tree are a brand recognised by both customers and the fashion industry in general, as a pioneer in ethical and environmentally sustainable fashion. Operating for over 27 years, People Tree developed the first integrated supply chain for organic cotton from farm to final product and were the first organisation anywhere to achieve GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification on a supply chain entirely in the developing world. It's easy to see why they are the winners of numerous awards from 'Eco-Warrier' to 'Best Ethical E-tailer'.

"When you shop with People Tree, you can trust that your goods were made ethically and sustainably."



Where can I buy it?
The People Tree website is the best place to go to, you can browse their whole collection from knitwear and activewear to jewellery! As I previously mentioned, you can also find a selection of their pieces on ASOS too.



















Wearing:


T-Shirt, People Tree


Jeans, Topshop (no longer available)


Trainers, Topshop


Bag, Kate Spade (no longer available)









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