Thursday, July 6, 2017

An ASOS Swimwear Lookbook

The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook
Hey-up! SO... today's post is something I've wanted to do for ages. It's a blog post about me and Paolo Nutini's wedding ceremony. Oh no wait, sorry, that's the other post I've wanted to do for ages... this one's a bikini lookbook. I've wanted to do a proper one of these for a long time, but have always found excuses not to and it just kept getting pushed to the back of my to-do list. As you may or may not know, Andy has been kicking my butt into shape since the beginning of the year and since then I've definitely become a bit happier in myself (I don't mean to brag I did feel the tiniest little hint of bicep recently. Maybe it was just padding in my top but let's say it was bicep). HOWEVER, I still hate the back of my arms, I have jigglier thighs than I'd like and, just like any other girl, could go on for days about the things I don't like about myself and take all of a second to tell you what I do like. I've always seen my body as a project, 'I'll be happy when it looks like...' type thing (maybe not that realistic since the end of that sentence is 'Emily Ratajkowski'), but this time round I just thought, 'FUCK IT'*. At the end of the day, it's my body, this is what it looks like and it's healthy and all that jazz - hopefully one day I'll get to where it want to be with it but I'm trying to not be quite so focused on what I don't like and 'the end goal' and appreciate it for what it is at the moment. Plus I friggin love bikinis, and, like I say, really wanted to do a swimwear lookbook. All of the images were shot in the beautiful, beautiful Cala Salada in Ibiza and feature some pretty sexy tanlines from the bikini I'd been wearing the previous day, for which I apologise in advance.

* That's a pound in the swear jar, sorry

The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS gingham swimsuit
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Now, we all know how much I love ASOS, that's no secret. Every single morning I have a little browse of the new-in with a cup of tea, and I'm now practically best pals with my DPD driver because he brings me so many ASOS parcels (there's an underlying vibe that he thinks I might have a minor shopping problem but that's so far gone unsaid). It's one of the first places I check when I'm after something specific - occasion wear, a summer dress, a pair of espadrilles - and swimwear is no exception. My first swimwear look is this beautiful gingham number which, for some reason, instantly reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood, although I'm not actuallu 100% sure she wore red gingham? Maybe I should have called it The Picnic Blanket instead. Either way, I love it. It's a very, very flattering shape - nice and simple at the front, party at the back - and the gingham print, as we know, appeals to me greatly. I absolutely love a bit of red on holiday too, I think it goes so nicely with a tan and also contrasts beautifully with the sea. I know that's not really something that's high on the list of priorities when shopping for swimwear ('yes it fits fantastically but how will it compliment the SEA!?') but it was more just looking back at these photos that I thought 'Ah... that's a satisfying colour combo right there'. So, yes, red. Red brings me onto...

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The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS red swimsuit The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook
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Ooh I do like this one a lot. Again it's very very flattering - same shape as the gingham swimsuit, different print - and the red is in the most beautiful, almost orange-y shade. Yes. I didn't want to have to point it out again, but it does go well with the sea. I genuinely did feel really nice in this one; it fits in all the right places without being too tight and again has that lovely back detail to give a lil sum' sum' extra.

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The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook 2017 The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook
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There's something I feel like I should have pointed out at the beginning of the post: I have a very hungry bum. There's no two ways about it, my bum is quite big and, because of that, it tends to eat swimwear. Bikinis, one-pieces - it doesn't discriminate - it'll give me a wedgie in all of them. Just in case you're looking at these swimsuits and thinking 'oh, I like it buuut... I just don't know about that butt-cheek to material ratio' - on a normal human being it probably wouldn't be quite so sucked in. This swimsuit is, again, another incredibly flattering one. It's made of a really thick, lovely scuba material which - as we all know - is great for sucking you in. It's also quite good at giving your nungas a good bit of support (I'm a D-cup and find it hard to near impossible to come across a suitable swimsuits because so many are intent on dragging your boobs down to your belly button, nobody needs to see that when they're eating a Calypso). Excitingly, this one is actually part of a two-pack of swimsuits that come in at a very reasonable £28 for both. Are you ready to see its partner? Here we goooo...

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The White One
The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS beachwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook The Little Magpie ASOS swimwear lookbook
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Yes, I have become very imaginative in my names. But, in my defence, 'the black one' and ' the white one' are, visually, very accurate names. The two-pack of swimsuits come in a variety of colours (all of which you can browse here), but I decided to go for black and white because a) I love both of those colours with a tan and b) you can really go to town with accessories. I paired the black swimsuit with these amazing yellow tassel earrings and a red lip for a classic holiday combo, and the white swimsuit with my big red earrings, because red and white on holiday just feels oh so right. A little accidental poem for you there.

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 So, we've moved on from swimsuits here to the classic cover-up. You know when it's time to go to the bar for some sangria and chips and you want something you can throw on that still looks nice but isn't too hot? Well, ta da! This little cream embroidered number does the trick. I also think it'd look amazing during the day paired with some denim cut-offs and a straw hat and during the evening with some little red cigarette trousers.

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Now, this dress is beautiful. Beyond beautiful actually, and deserves so many more photos than it has. However, the wind had other ideas that morning and the beautiful, boho beach shoot I had planned in my head soon just became a serious of photos of me wiping hair from my face and looking frustrated. Alas, hopefully you can still tell from these photos what an incredible dress it is, and so well priced too! Especially compared to similar types of dress I've seen other brands release. I wore it cinched in at the waist but it's really lovely just to wear loose and free as well, especially on days when you might have a little bit of the ole sunburn going on.

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And there we have it, my first ever proper swim/beachwear lookbook! I really, really hope you like it. I'm quite proud of it and it's something I've wanted to do for ages so here's hoping you're not like '...it's a no from me'.

Amy

Post in collaboration with ASOS