STYLE Q&A: Zara Haul + Workwear Ideas | Hello October

Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel. Today, that was a very, I haven't done an intro like that in ages. I don't think I've used those vocal cords in a while. Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel. It's very early in the morning on Thursday. I've been ill all week and this video should have been filmed a long time ago, but we're filming on upload day. So today we're doing a style Q&A. I've never done one of these before. I've done general Q&As, but never anything specifically themed. So that is what we are doing today. I asked you guys to send me some questions on Instagram stories and I screenshotted them all. There's actually so many. We have a spreadsheet, a really long ass spreadsheet with lists of questions and we've categorized them. So I will do these kind of regularly and we're gonna use those questions until we run out and then we'll ask you some new questions. That is the general consensus of this video. I hope you enjoy it. Let's get into it. So the first question is comparing your style now to your style this time last year. How has it changed? Do you think it's changed? I get asked this all the damn time at the moment. People are like, do you think your style's changed? I think people that ask it kind of already know the answer because yes, it has changed a little bit, but I think the general base of my style, what you might call personal style, I think personal style is a slight myth. The general base of everything I wear is still the same. Still love neutrals, still love casualing everything down like leather jacket, denim jackets. Those are kind of like my jam. I still love like biker boots and trainers and those things have never really changed. I still love all of those things. I think what has changed in the past year is the little extras in my style, which before I was a little bit scared to maybe take risks with, and now I definitely am not afraid to try new things. And I really don't think that's a bad thing. I think people see change and inconsistency in your style as a bad thing. But personally, I have lots of different sides to me. So I act like a five-year-old and at the same time run a business and have to do lots of very, very grown up things. And then at the same time, I'm also like massively into all things like cute and very like pink and garish. I still love like neutrals and all of that. So there's lots of different sides to me and different things that I like. So one day you might see me literally wearing like hoodies and like a really embellished pair of trainers. And then some days you'll see me in tailored trousers and like a really nice smart top and like my YSL sandals. And it looks very kind of like pulled together and not casual at all. And that is the way my style is. That's the way it's always been. I think now more so, I feel more comfortable with showing the side of me when I'm kind of off and I'm wearing like a giant oversized jumper or hoodies. I'm not really scared to show lots of different sides to me anymore. And it's not that anything has necessarily changed in my style necessarily. Like lots of people are like, oh, you now have like fake nails and your style has gone more like tacky. I've had fake nails for like three years now maybe. It's just now I occasionally have them slightly different shaped and they're glittery. And as you can see today they are not, they actually match my top. I don't know what colour this is by the way. I go to this tiny little place in Brighton and I have no idea what colour they put on my nails. Yeah, I flick between. So last week I had coffin shaped, like so they're kind of like a little bit more square, like heavily glittered, like it was like a heavily glittered French manicure. And this week I've got like a nice autumny colour. That would be an awful, if I made that joke and then I actually wore it. Sorry guys, I've got the windows open today because I went to shut one window and there's a giant spider hanging in the kind of like opening of it. And I can't, I can't touch spider webs. But anyway, yeah, there are lots of different sides to my style. There's lots of different things that I like. And I'm not going to not wear something that I like just because it's not like, some people don't see it as my style. I'm just gonna wear whatever I want. We always come back to like the staple, like hoop earrings, leather jackets, denim jackets, trainers, that kind of thing. And that is, that's my fundamental base. That never changes. So for me, yes, it's changed in some ways because I show you guys more, like I love playing around with things. I think fashion and beauty is meant to be really fun and expressive and you can do whatever you want and it doesn't really matter. So that was my piece that I wanted to say on that. I felt like the first style Q and A should probably address that before I go on. Because it's definitely been like a very discussed topic this year. The next question is which item of clothing makes you feel really powerful slash like a boss? I love this question so much. For me, one of the tiniest things that I've been wearing since I was about 13 years old is hoop earrings. They are the one thing that I've always just felt really good the second I put them in. I remember I had a pair of Primark hoop earrings. That was my first pair. And everyone else was like starting to wear hoop earrings to school. It was that kind of time. The time of like frilly layered skirts, that kind of time. We used to wear that to school and then I got a pair of hoop earrings and they were much smaller probably than the ones I wear now. But I just remember feeling so good the second I put them in and I just felt like they really changed my face. And from that moment, I just felt so together and so good whenever I wore hoop earrings and it's now like one of my things that I'm like, okay, I've got a pair of hoop earrings in, I'm ready for the day, I can do this. And it's pretty much the same thing with eyeliner as well. If I have eyeliner on, I can do today. Even if I'm going into a situation where I know that I might get like slightly emotional, I will wear eyeliner. I don't care if it's gonna end up down my face because actually I perform better in life when I've got my eyeliner on. I just feel like I have my shiz together. So those are like two little things that make all the difference for me. That and an all black outfit makes me feel 100%. So that is kind of like a little roundup of things that make me feel like a total boss and like ready for the day. Those are my absolute go-tos. Oh, and if I'm on a night out, a pair of really amazing heels. Like I have the YSL tribute heels in like a suede. They are just my absolute everything. And I just always feel so confident when I wear those out. This next question was a really fun one. And I thought this would add something slightly different to the Q&A element of this video. It was your favourite autumn pieces from Zara from the current season. So I have a few things to show you. Let me know if you like this element of the video because I can definitely do stuff like this. Just pick out the best of like a new in section of a website and just kind of run you through the things that I really like the most quickly and show you them on. Because sometimes I might not necessarily do a whole video. I don't know, this could be a cute idea. Let me know if you like it because I wouldn't necessarily have done a Zara haul this month. There's not like a ton that I like, but I think this is a really nice way to just show you like five or six pieces that I like from their new in collection and show you them on. First things first, I'm gonna show you this. I don't like bucket bags. Can I just take a moment to say, like I don't generally love these bucket bags, but this one I just thought was so cool because it's all like little beads, little bubbles. There's a game that used to be on PlayStation where you like had to pop bubbles. I think it was like a Japanese game. I absolutely loved it. It reminds me of that, but it's really cute. And I like the color of it a lot actually. It's got a slightly longer strap, which you can detach. And then it's got this shorter strap. And I just think that it is really fricking cute. So that is like my number one thing that I really liked. And then my second favorite thing, I am actually keeping because I loved it. I really loved it. This is a knitted jumper dress from Zara. It's beautiful. I can't recommend this enough, actually. I just really, really like it. If you're shorter as well and you really struggle with kind of like the length of jumper dresses, this is such a good one. So yeah, the length is good. I just love it. It's not itchy at all, which is so important for me in knitwear, like especially with things like this. When you touch it, you're like, ooh, is this gonna be itchy? Not itchy at all. And it's got like a nice kind of structured bit around the sleeves and the hem. It just feels like a little bit more weighty, but not too weighty, but it just sits nicely on my body. I do really, really like it. So for anyone who hasn't seen the jumper dress on last night's Insta Stories Q&A, this is what it looks like. I absolutely love it. So cute. I think that is also a longer version of this on the website, I wanna say. I can't remember if it was sold out, but I think there is a longer version of this. So we'll try and link both, but for anyone who is taller, this obviously will need like either a little pair of shorts underneath or kind of tights, jeans. If there is like the longer version, then that will kind of make this a similar length on you. And I've just paired it with my Topshop boots, which is how I wore it when I wore it out last week. And I wore it with my Chanel bag, but you could easily wear it with this bag, which I just think is so cute. I'm keeping this. I just think that this makes a really sweet little outfit. That is both of those. I just, I love this bag so much. It's so cute. So that is my second favourite item. I haven't actually been through the rest of this too much. So I'm just gonna show you very quickly and then we'll get to the trial bits because I don't even know what this is gonna be like. I basically just pulled the jumper dress out because I wanted to wear it on a date and that was that. So this next item is a little sleeveless high neck top. It's almost like a very fine knit, kind of. It's got these little bits at the bottom, which basically there's, it's just like, there's a cutout. And I just thought this was so cute. It would work really nicely with like white jeans or even like my khaki, like paper bag, tie waist trousers. This would just look so pulled together. And I really like the material of it. It feels very like fitted and like it's gonna be quite structured. I think it's gonna be a really versatile item. Something that you could wear with jeans or tailored trousers on a night out, but then also with like something really casual, like mom jeans during the day. I just think that this would be a really nice, easy piece for autumn. So this is the Zara top. I've just thrown it on with these Zara trousers, just so you can see the kind of like cutout bits at the side. They're kind of not symmetrical, which bugs me a tiny bit, but I think for most people, most people wouldn't care. I love the fit of this. I just think I will get so much wear out of this. I would probably wear it with these trousers as well. I really like the whole look of this. This is gonna be so versatile. I'm using it for a segment later on in this video. Thumbs up. Then I actually picked out a few belts because Zara's autumn belt collection is just amazing. I'm really, I've just, nowhere seems to do a good belt. I was just like, oh my God, this is every belt that I've ever wanted, just in one place. This is amazing. So the first one, I'll show you one by one, is this leopard print belt. And the buckles on them are just so beautiful. Like they're not, the quality isn't like insane, but the actual, like for the detail on them, they look really like high-end, really premium, and they're really affordable. So I just thought that I would buy a few belts and show you guys because they are so good. So yeah, that is the leopard print. It's like a light gold belt. Then we have a suede belt, which I just love. It's such a, like whenever you have something in a suede, it's such a deep color and it looks really rich and really expensive. And then the belt on this is just, the buckle bit is just absolutely stunning. It's like hammered kind of metal, and again, in a light gold. I just absolutely love it. I think I will be keeping a couple of these because they are just so, so pretty. Then we have a waist belt. I love a waist belt. I feel like these come in and out of like trends all the time, but this is like, this is a style I feel like we have all seen before, but I just think if you're looking for something like this, Zara have it. This is a really nice piece that isn't too expensive, but that the quality actually looks really good on it. I really love the buckle detailing on all of these. It really makes all the difference. It doesn't look cheap at all. And it doesn't feel too cheap either. Like they don't feel like you've paid for a designer belt, but they also don't feel like you've paid for a high street belt. So would highly recommend those. I'm very, very happy with them. It's always nice when you order things and they are as you expected them to be from the website and they don't turn up and you're like, hmm, great. And then finally we have this coat, which I thought I would give a try on. It looked really nice on the website. This is one of my like top autumn pieces from them. I think actually like this, the little bag and the jumper could make an outfit all on their own really. But yeah, I love the colour of this. It's just a really, really beautiful, like what would you call this? Like a very light camel, almost like an oatmeal to a camel or something like that. But yeah, it's just absolutely beautiful. It looks gorgeous. So I'm looking forward to trying this on. Hopefully it will remain in my like top Zara pieces for autumn and it won't be a total fail. The moment of truth. This is how the coat looks. I was so nervous to try this on. It's really cute. I love the colour. I've had a coat like this in this colour in similar like seasons, actually like years ago, maybe like six years ago. I really love this colour. Yeah, I got an extra small and it fits really well. It's very, very cute. It can remain in my top pieces from Zara for autumn winter. The next question is what key pieces will you be buying into for autumn winter 2018? And the answer to that is, you kind of might already know really if you've been watching my videos, but anything leopard print. I feel like leopard print is one of those prints that really does like stretch across seasons really, really nicely. So for me, I don't really mind investing in it. Also khaki, khaki is one of those ones that comes back over and over again and I love it. I think it works really well with my colouring. So it's one of those colours that I really don't mind investing in. Any kind of neutral, I don't really mind, but especially when it's kind of like a greeny colour, like a neutral green, I really, really like that. So that's definitely a colour you're gonna be seeing cropping up a lot more. And then anything that is kind of like YSL inspired. Over the past year, I've just, I watch what they do, what the things they design and I absolutely love everything. And I do find that there are certain pieces that kind of make their way down onto the high street, certain designs, certain prints. So for example, there's a dress that I have ordered for a party soon and it's very, very YSL inspired and I can't wait to wear it because I don't quite have a budget for YSL dresses on the regular. So it's just really nice to find things that are kind of similar on the high street. I just really love their vibe. I think as a brand, like all of their stuff that they do is very in line with my style. So anything that is kind of YSL inspired is something that I personally snap up. The next question is style advice for those that are new to smart, casual office wear slash corporate wear. We had so many questions that came in on what to wear in an office and obviously every office has a different dress code and you have kind of like the smart, casual office vibe but then you also have corporate wear which is either suits or like, suits are very hard for me because I've never, that is something I don't have experience in massively. But then you also have the in-between where it's not smart, casual but it's no shoulders, no chest, no nothing above your knee, no open-toed shoes, all the most tiny little things that you're like, oh, this is such a bullet because really at the end of the day, how much difference does having your toe out in a shoe actually make? And I can say that because I worked at Bupa for a year and they have the kind of like middle ground which is just really, really irritating. So there's that. So from my own experience, I can advise on the middle ground and I can advise on the smart, casual. I'm not so great at the suit type of thing. I do think that Zara do really great suits. I think if you want that kind of vibe and you want advice on like suits, I don't wear them a lot. I really struggle with them, but I would highly, highly recommend my lovely friend, Victoria from In The Fro. She is a big fan of a suit and she has loads of absolutely gorgeous ones. And she'll be very, very good at work wear advice for more corporate stuff just because she rocks a suit. She absolutely rocks a suit. She buys a lot of them. She owns so, so many. So I feel like she'll be a good one to give recommendations on where, do the best quality, best fit and all of that. But as a starting point on the high street, I would definitely say ASOS and Zara and then moving up into places like Reece, you have more of a budget because the fit and quality of the stuff that they do is always really, really good. And if you are tiny like me and suits are a total ball egg, you're probably gonna, I would personally, if I had to work in a very corporate environment, I would just have everything tailored. Doesn't cost too much really at the end of the day and to make it, to make that fit perfect for something that you will wear so regularly is probably worth it. But in general, across the board, I would say that accessories are absolutely key as well as your hair. Even if you are in a very corporate environment, that is where you can show your personality and your style depending on how lenient they are with that. There are probably businesses out there that are still quite strict on things like that as well. But in general, hair and accessories are kind of like your easiest in for adding some personality into outfits. And then you have jackets and bags, which aren't gonna show your personality in the office, but the second you step out the door, that is you. And once you are out the office, you are obviously free to wear whatever you like. So those are your ways that on your commute, you can kind of like still feel a bit more like you, even if you don't in the office. I know that when I had to wear smart casual, like the smarter end of smart casual, I never really 100% felt like myself. But that being said, what we're gonna do now is show you four outfits for smart casual and four outfits for the smarter end of smart casual, but not quite corporate. Obviously, because I don't own any suits guys, so I'm really sorry. Let me know if that is a video that you would like to see though, and I can do a whole separate segment on that. It will require a little bit more research. I will need to like talk to people that actually work in more corporate wear attire as well, just to make sure that I'm getting everything really right. Because the one thing I don't wanna do, because I don't have experience with this, is give you incorrect information. I don't wanna get anybody into trouble at work. So yeah, these are four outfits for different kind of like work wear styles, which hopefully will inspire you, even if it's not something that you can wear to work. Maybe it's something that you can wear outside of work or on like kind of dress down days or whatever. Or it might just be something that you actually like and would just wear on a daily basis anyway. Hopefully you'll find this interesting. So let's get on with the outfits. Okay, so outfit number one. This top is from Urban Outfitters. This lovely burnt orangey color, I just love it. I've got Topshop tailored trousers on. These aren't in stock anymore, but I will try and link something very similar. They always have kind of similar styles to this. But yeah, I've had these for years. I had them kind of tailored to me and I just absolutely love them. And then I've got my Gucci loafers. And then whatever jacket you like, you can throw a blazer on with it if you want it to be smarter. I would probably wear a leather jacket with this. Okay, so we are using the same trousers as outfit number one. These are from Topshop again. The boots is from Topshop as well. And then we also have this cami from Topshop, which is actually more of a crop cami, but I've just tucked it so that you don't have the croppedness because I know some employers don't mind cropped things if it's just like a tiny bit, but some definitely do. So yeah, that is the base of the outfit. And then we have this. This is a blazer, which is also from Topshop from last year, but I'm pretty sure they're bringing this back in a slightly different like pattern this year. And this is what it looks like on. It's got slightly padded shoulders, which I don't really mind, but I think it fits really nicely. My only issue with some of the Topshop blazers is that they don't have actual pockets. That is my only gripe with this outfit. But other than that, I really like it. I had to wear smart things to work ever, like really smart things. This is what you would see me wearing. This is probably the smartest. This is the closest you would get me to an actual suit. So this outfit revolves around the Topshop trousers again, but works better for if you need your shoulders covered, no above the knee, no like open-toed kind of shoes or anything like that. Got this Topshop again. Topshop is actually really good if you are on the lookout for the right pieces. This blouse is I think still current season. It gives a really nice texture to an outfit, which I think work wear can sometimes lack when you're wearing just like white shirts and tailored trousers. There's not a lot of texture there. There's not a lot going on. And so I think having a kind of like silky satiny style shirt really does add a little bit of something extra. This is actually more of a peplum style, but I've just tucked it in to the trousers because they are quite high-waisted. And then again, I have my Gucci loafers. These actually I think I would wear a lot more if I worked in an office because I would constantly be trying to make things look smarter using these. So yeah, any kind of loafer, any kind of really pretty kind of like flat shoe generally work really well for this style. This is the final outfit that revolves around these trousers, I swear. I've got this jumper from ASOS. I think these come back every year in a different style. It's slightly high-necked, not too high-necked and has quite long sleeves. I've rolled them up. And then I've paired it with these Topshop patent pointed boots, which kind of gives you a little bit of elongation, which is nice. You've got a little bit of ankle peeping out so that you don't feel like you're completely cased in black. It's just very chic and kind of minimal. It looks really nice if you've got like a slick back bun and then some sunglasses like this. I just really like that kind of look. So yeah, that is the base of that outfit. And then obviously, I'm not gonna do outerwear on any of these because you can wear whatever you want outside the office. Your coat doesn't matter as much. But yeah, for when you're in the office and you wanna be a little bit warmer and you can kind of get away with wearing a knit, this is something I would suggest. So this outfit is I think my favourite. I would get a lot of wear out of this if I worked in an office. I'm wearing the Zara top that you will have seen earlier. And then these Zara, ooh, nice, that's nice. Both Zara, I'm wearing these culottes. They have lovely pockets. I love these. I've had these for well over a year now. I wear them all the time. They're just really, really gorgeous. And then I've got my YSL sandals, which I wear over and over again. And if you are allowed to wear shoes like this in an office, then I would highly recommend a pair because they're just absolutely gorgeous. Probably better for summer. But this kind of transitional period that we're in at the moment, you can still get away with these and they're just bloody lovely. I think Zara might do a similar pair. If we can find them, then it will be in the info box. But yeah, that's the gist with this outfit. Okay, so for this next outfit, we all know I'm gonna have to find you a similar link somehow because this dress is currently out of stock, again, on Topshop. But this style of dress, I just think is one of the most easiest items to have in your workwear wardrobe because it covers all of your bases. Like you are covered, like even if you wanted to, you could have this more like high necked if you wanted to. But then obviously you can unbutton it down and you can have it kind of like rolled up or whatever for weekends as well. So it's a really versatile piece. I've paired it with my Topshop tan boots. I love these. They're just the perfect colour and they also just work really well, both on a casual basis and in a workwear wardrobe. I've paired this dress with the Zara belt that I showed you guys earlier. I'll try and find dresses in this style and pop them in the info box and the link for this dress just in case you want to try and find similar styles to this. Yeah, I would highly recommend this style of dress, yeah. Next we have this dress, which you will have seen before. I wear it to meetings a lot. It's a really nice option for the kind of warmer days. I wear this with a leather jacket over the top if I feel the need to wear a jacket. I've paired it with my YSL sandals, but you could easily wear it with the boots from Topshop as well, the ones that were in the previous outfit and both of them would work really, really well. The previous pair of shoes would obviously make it more autumn appropriate, but whilst it's still fairly warm, I thought that I would show you a kind of like warmer dress outfit option, but again, covers all your bases. It covers your shoulders. The shoes are an option, then just switch those up. Dresses like this are just great as well. They're a really easy piece. I do find that jumpsuits and dresses are great for office wear because you kind of get ready a lot quicker in the morning. You don't really have to think about what you're going to be wearing. I wish that when I worked in an office, I worked there a few years later so that I was there for like the jumpsuit trend because it would have made my life so much easier. This has actually been really difficult for me because most of the things that I own are cropped. Hope you don't mind, I used everything that I already own in my wardrobe. And of course as well, just try and take inspiration from these. You don't need to buy these exact pieces. If you have similar pieces in your wardrobe, hopefully it'll just inspire you to dig them out a little bit or maybe try some new combinations. And that is it for my style Q&A. I was worried that this was going to be short. I feel like this has actually been quite a long video, but I really hope you guys enjoyed this video. I would love to get your feedback, obviously, like please be kind with your feedback. Don't be rude. But I would love any feedback on how we can make these style Q&As better going forward because this is a concept, even though it's very simple, I really, really love. So I definitely want to do more of these going forward and yeah, just let me know the bits that you liked. Do make sure you follow me on Instagram because we will do a story, again, asking for questions when we next need them. So yeah, follow me over there. I'm just HelloOctober on Instagram. But yeah, I'm going to love you and leave you now. I hope you're all having the best day and I love you a lot, so I'll see you again soon. Bye.