My Holiday Capsule Wardrobe

I'm back in the land of internet after 10 days up on the North Coast. We stay in a friend's holiday house (thank you Anna!) where there's no wifi and although it's very close to the town with plenty of other houses nearby, we get no 4G and very weak 3G. In fact, my phone regularly flipped between Vodafone IE and EE...the proximity to the coast seems to confuse things, despite the fact we were about 50 miles from the Irish border. In any case, it's a blessing in disguise and means that the 10 days were spent free of blogging and internet shopping...we all need a break like that, forced or not.

So I've quite a few things to share now I'm back - starting with what I wore on holiday. I brought an even smaller capsule with me this time as I had to pack bedlinen in my suitcase. Here is what I packed with direct links where the items are still available and links to similar items where I've been able to find them.

Shoes:
Black H&M Sandals
Palmaira Tan Avarca Sandals
Adidas Superstars

Bags:
Mint Velvet Tan Cross Body Bag (sold out - similar on sale here)
Leopard Cross Body Bag (via DejaVu - similar leather on SALE here and here)

Bottom Half:
Topshop Jeans (past season - similar here)
Kings of Indigo Distressed Jeans (via TK Maxx - past season)
Boyfriend style Denim Shorts (TU Clothing - past season - similar here)

Top Half:
Black River Island Top
2 x H&M off-the-shoulder Top (coral striped and black)
H&M Grey Vest
M&S Vest Top (similar here)
River Island Grey Long Sleeved Oversized Top

Outerwear:
Ilse Jacobsen Grey Long Waterproof Coat (via Sarah Jane Boutique - Magherafelt)
Uniqlo Short, Lightweight Rain Jacket (out of stock online - similar here)

And here are photos of me wearing some of it. We were so lucky with the weather, getting 4 sunny, beach-worthy days out of 10 and no entirely rainy days. Most of the rest of the days were dry and cloudy, allowing us to go exploring the surrounding area. I didn't do photos every day because some days it was just nice to not ask the kids/husband. They need a break from it all too :)

Initial/Birthstone Necklace - c/o Anna Lou of London

Ilse Jacobsen Coat, Adidas Trainers, Topshop Jeans, River Island Top

Palmaira Sandals, Denim Shorts, Mint Velvet Bag, H&M Top

River Island Top, Tu Shorts, H&M Sandals, Leopard Bag

On a trip to Derry/Londonderry, I wore the Uniqlo jacket, KOI jeans & H&M top

This is a bit of a cheat one as I bought this dress in the Next sale in Derry the day before. I was getting kinda bored with the capsule I guess. I did a bit more shopping in Coleraine resulting in 2 other purchases but I'll save them for another blog post, along with a few top tips for making the most of the tail end of the sales.

I have to say, I'd hoped this summer that we'd go abroad for a two week sunny holiday but by the time we looked into it, it was working out more expensive that we'd hoped so we decided to stay home again and book earlier for next summer. But seeing what happened in Nice (which was the front runner for our holiday), Turkey and Germany, I now wonder if we might just staycation again in 2017. Suddenly the world feels like a more scary place and the very tip top of Ireland, in a little seaside resort just over an hour's drive from home seems like the most wonderful place in the world to be.

Ax