The last two weeks before Autumn starts is always reserved in my diary as family holiday time. When I was younger, we never ever went abroad, but in the past few years we have been coming to a village in Turkey called Kalkan and it is now one of my favourite places in the world, filled with little winding streets, the most ridiculously beautiful sea, pink flowers and the most amazing food. But as much as I love coming here for 2 weeks – I absolutely HATE packing for two weeks.
Actually, I hate packing in general. I have always hated packing. I get so, so stressed that I have forgotten things and either I pack wayyyy to much (we are talking enough outfits for 3 months – or I just pack random pieces and then don’t have any actual outfits that go together). I especially hate packing when it is the end of summer, and all the good bikinis have sold out in my size. I always leave holiday shopping till the last minute and then I panic order loads of bits and pieces.
This year – I promised myself that I wouldn’t back 20 pairs of shoes and 70 items of clothing and hope some kind of outfit would work – I would pack actual pre made outfits – a few for the day, alongside my bikinis, and some for the evenings.
Along with a huge last minute panic swimwear order, I did a super last minute shoe order from Shoeaholics to complete my outfits. I was so excited when I asked if I wanted to collaborate with Shoeaholics for my next holiday as they have the most amazing HEAVILY DISCOUNTED (woo) shoes and accessories on their website – it is literally the one stop shop for a bargain hunter.
Shoeaholics is part of the Kurt Geiger Shoe Group which means they have exclusive access to a hugeeee range of designer brands before anyone else does. Their products aren’t just things you don’t want that noone else bought first time round – the are gorgeous designer handbags and shoes without the original price tag (like magic).
The most frequent labels currently that I can see on their website are Carvela Kurt Geiger, Michael Michael Kors, and Miss KG up to 75% off. And so I pretty much followed suit with my shopping – I went for a pair of white trainers by Michael Michael Kors, some gorgeous fluffy sandal/slides that are literally my new favourite things in life from Carvela Kurt Geiger and then I went off road an ordered a pair of sandals that I LOVE (perfect for evenings, with little dresses) from London Rebel just £24.99 (was £40). Oh and I also chose a new bag – because it is beautiful, also from Carvela, which was perfect hand luggage.
Head over to their website here to see all the gorgeous items else they have!
I really didn’t want to take too much stuff with me this trip, my life has been so hectic recently that I wanted this break to be stress free and simple – starting with my wardrobe – so these items were perfect to take my outfit from day to night.
Packing essentials:
Organising my outfits before I left was something I never ever ever thought I would do. I remember when I went to New York with my friend Gemma and she had planned outfits for each day and each activity – I was so jealous of this as every single morning she woke up and put on Day 1’s outfit whilst I spent 30 mins rummaging around my bag trying to find a top that matched my jeans.
So first up – my go to day outfit – little crop top and star bikini from Elcy.com and Topshop shorts. Complete with these new Carvela slides – which I can see myself continuing to wear all through Autumn, with jeans and a knitted jumper, until it gets way too cold for my toes. These shoes are also perfect to wear with any little dresses in the evenings, making them the perfect holiday shoe.
Next up – go to evening attire. My striped MissyEmpire jumpsuit which I am obsessed with at the moment – alongside these beige London Rebel sandals. I love the slight platform of these and the ankle strap makes them feel a little bit smarter than normal day sandals. Perfect for evenings strolling down cobbled streets.
The trainers I used to travel in and for all the ‘exercise’ I do on holiday. This usually is ‘one fast paced walk on the first day’ and then nothing else. But these Michael Michael Kors trainers are gorgeous – they are so white (it won’t take long for me to get them all grubby) but they reminded me of super glam Hollywood housewife’s tennis shoes.
Day time outfit, complete with completely windswept hair, magazine and sunshineeeee:
To evening outfit, completely with flowers in my hair and hair scraped back to avoid looking like a frizzy beachy yeti.
Shoeaholics are also helping you spread your shoe addiction to other members of your friendship circle with their refer a friend offer. If you refer a friend, you will receive a treat when they shop – which is a win win win situation. That is what friends are for right? To always encourage buying new handbags and shoes?
Now I am off to enjoy my holiday. Although I got my day and night outfits perfectly coordinated – I still managed to pack 16 bikinis….. Ok fine – 18.
Big thank you to Shoeaholics for working with me on this campaign – I absolutely love the products and the website (and the discounts on designer items).
Who would you refer as your shoe shopping partner in crime?
xx
This post was written in collaboration with Shoeaholics but all panic packing advice and opinions are my own.
