Trend To Try: Fedora Hats

I'm always looking for new accessories that I can try out - last year I got a fur trapper hat, the year before I tried out a snood - and when looking online at the accessories sections of different shops recently I noticed that fedoras seem to be very popular. They were also brought to my attention when I was reading an article on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and it featured a picture of her wearing one. I then googled this, and loads of pictures came up. Although fedora's are usually attributed to summer style, they are just as perfect for autumn, too. Try a beige or dark coloured felt fedora teamed with a biker jacket and jeans, and it will work perfectly. Unfortunately, straw fedoras will only work in summer.

I have picked out fedoras currently available in the UK (ranging from very cheap to very expensive!):

1. Miss Selfridge

2. ASOS

3. River Island

4. Miss Selfridge

5. Emilio Pucci

6. Gucci

7. Burberry

For outfit inspiration, I've picked out photos to show the different ways that a fedora can be worn.



  

  

Final judgement on the fedora? Definitely a trend worth trying. If you are cautious about wearing one as we head into autumn, pick a darker colour and it will be more suited to the outfits you are likely to wear. Additionally, don't be put off thinking that only designer brands offer the best fedoras - most high street stores will try to create hats of a similar look to those that are designer, so watch out for those.

- A.T.

Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday I celebrated my 21st birthday. It is the first birthday I have spent at home in a few years - last year I was in Illinois, the year before I went up to Newcastle for a night out, and the year before that I was at Leeds Festival for it - so I wasn't quite sure how to fill my day as well as I did in the previous years! In the end I chilled out for most of the day after opening my cards and presents, and my boyfriend arrived in the afternoon shortly before we all went for a birthday meal (minus my eldest sister who couldn't make it due to work!) It was a great day, but not nearly as wild as 21st birthdays should be - I'm saving that for when I go back to university next month.

I'm not quite sure what to expect from this year ahead - being 20 was quite honestly the best year of my life, so it'll be quite hard to top that. The past year I have experienced what a lot of people wouldn't experience in a lifetime. 10 months of me being 20 were spent studying abroad at the University of Illinois, and another month spent traveling around SE Asia with my boyfriend - months well spent! During my time at Illinois, I met a big bunch of fun, crazy, genuine, down-to-earth people who quite honestly made my year, I learnt so much and grew massively as a person, I managed to get an internship and start this blog which means I fulfilled my new years resolutions, and, most of all, I had the most fun I've ever had, for the whole time of me being 20. After all, I did get the all-round American college experience - just like you see in the movies. It's rare to say you did that. I had to pinch myself sometimes to check I wasn't in some crazy made-up dream.

I have some big things coming up this year: I'm co-founding and launching a Her Campus branch at my university, I have to write a feasible 40,000 word dissertation, and I graduate next June and enter the real world (!). On top of that, I am working really hard to try and get some more work experience such as an internship under my belt, and am also looking to move out of home some time after graduating. That's a lot to take on in one year!

However, I do still have a couple of weeks at home before I move into my new uni house, before this all kicks off and all of the madness begins. I'm feeling pretty positive about the things I want to achieve, and so excited to see my uni friends again. I had the perfect birthday to set the year off, so I'll tie my positive outlook to that. I feel that my 21st birthday marks the end of this chapter and the beginning of another.

Here are some pictures from my birthday!

My mum made this cake - the tiger is on there because of my recent travels around SE Asia

Me and my sister with our boyfriends

My beautiful sister and her boyfriend



Cake!

Can't believe I've finally hit the big 2-1. A close friend wrote in her card to me: "Only you would spend a year studying in America and then come home and turn 21". She's right. Only me!

- A. T.

Absence

I realise it has been a long time since I have posted on here. The reason for this is because I've just spent the past month or so traveling around SE Asia. I am now back in the UK and gearing up for a very busy few months ahead.

Expect more regular posts now I am back!

- A.T.