Boho Chic in Dubai with Top Tier Style

For the purpose of this post I was given the following items for review. I like to be honest with my readers and make the disclaimer at the beginning.

I don't do many review posts and it's not something I search for, so I was very surprised to be contacted directly to ask if I'd review a pair of sunglasses, an item from the Boho fashion range and a cat t-shirt.

I have quite a few cat t-shirts that often feature in my blog, usually worn when I attend events with my dog Bob and I'm always happy to add another to my collection.

I've also been meaning to get a spare pair of sunglasses for a while as the ones I wear on a daily basis are by Tiffany and rather expensive to spend so much time falling off my head on the floor as Bob pulls me in all directions when I take him out for a walk. When the weather isn't so hot I like to cycle, even more so since we've relocated to the other side of Dubai and the roads are less busy. As you can imagine, there's a lot of choice for sunglasses in Dubai and the sales staff are quite pushy over here. I'm fortunate that most shapes and styles suit my face so it was nice and easy to choose a pair from the comfort of my own home. I now have a spare pair for when I walk Bob or go for a ride. They are polarised and I could choose the colour of the lens to suit the frame.

I wear a lot of dresses in Dubai all year round, regardless of where I'm going and what I'm doing, other than cycling. I prefer the longer style, but find most maxi dresses have spaghetti style straps, whilst I'm not breaking any cultural rules in Dubai by wearing these dresses out, I find in the summer my shoulders burn quite badly and in the winter it gets chilly in the day and wearing a pashmina to keep my shoulders warm and protect them from the sun is a flaff and I spend most of the day picking it up off the floor along with my sunglasses.

Delivery time was fast for all the items and they were packaged well. The t-shirt and dress came in a really small bag and I was concerned the items would be badly creased, but they weren't which would make them excellent items for packing into hand luggage and be able to wear without ironing at your holiday destination. The quality of the materials and the manufacture is excellent.

The dress was slightly see through, which could be a problem in Dubai, but I wore it with a slip underneath. Ordering was easy but I did find the size chart difficult to find on the website, however it was very accurate, the t-shirt fitted perfectly and I opted to get the dress in a larger size as it had adjustable ties round the waist.

The vintage steampunk sunglasses, boho fashion and cat t-shirt in this review were provided by Top Tier Style. If you would like to purchase your own use the coupon code BLOG15 for 15% OFF everything on their store!

11 handy uses for a Pashmina in Dubai

The Pashmina is one of my top 4 essentials for travel that I carry with me at all times in Dubai.

But what can you use it for? What is it's purpose other than a fashion item?

1. As a head covering, out of respect for the local culture. I had to remove my sleeved top for the henna tattoo.

2. As a blanket for the beach

3. A pillow

4. Taking the chill off when the sun goes down

5. A sarong

                   

6. To wrap up wet bathing suit after a trip to the beach

7. To protect the back of the car when the dog jumps in and out

8. To protect against the heat

9. To place on a park bench before sitting down if wearing light coloured clothing and also to stop you sticking to the seat and to keep the dirt and sweat off from the previous person who sat here.

 10. To add a splash of colour

11. To pack round bottles in the boot of the car

Winter in Dubai? or just a marketing exercise?

It is mid winter in Dubai, now bare in mind we've moved from the middle of summer in South Africa, so we're not tourists arriving looking for some sun. OK I grant you it's a little chilly in the morning and last thing at night, especially if you're eating outside in a restaurant near the sea, but seriously? these are common temperatures, it's not that cold, in fact it's actually rather pleasant.

In South Africa the winter temperatures are the same in the day, but at night time it drops to zero and below and as soon as the sun sets it gets proper cold. The houses in SA aren't really equipped for winter there and as soon as the end of May approaches out come the winter clothes, hat, scarves, electric blankets, fluffy sheets and boots.

The trouble is though that during the day you will need to change outfits and end up carrying around winter gear and wishing you'd popped your sandals in the car rather than being stuck wearing boots at midday.

In Dubai though, a pashmina will do to take the chill off in the early mornings and evenings, in fact it's probably colder in the air conditioned malls than it is outside at night fall, but that doesn't stop the shops being full of winter clothing, boots, hats and scarves.

I'm sure it's a marketing device, lets make people feel it's cold during the winter by selling winter clothing, lets create the feeling of winter with snow scenes. Starbucks sell the 'winter warmer' coffees with seasonal syrups, iced gingerbread snowmen with scarves on.

It's an attempt to make you feel like it is cold so they can sell you stuff you really don't need.

I wrote this post 2 weeks ago, since then we've had storms and the annual rainfall fell in one go on Sunday and Monday this week. The temperature has dropped, the air conditioning has been adjusted and I'm considering buying a pair of socks, but I don't need a winter wardrobe.

My top 4 essentials for travel in Dubai.

Well apart from plenty of money and plenty of sun cream and plenty of bottled water, after nearly 2 weeks of living in a hotel in Dubai while our visa applications and house is ready, these are my top 4 essentials for travel in Dubai.

·      Paper tissues and flushable wet wipes

These are the toilets. Every toilet is like this, every toilet in our house is like this. The trouble is after they’ve been used, the toilet seat is wet and as I’m discovering although there are seat santiser spray units in each cubicle, they are often empty and toilet paper is sparse.

·      Hand sanitisers

Dubai, being in a desert is also very dusty and my hands and feet (when wearing sandals) are filthy.

·      A Pashmina

It is cold in Dubai, not something I thought I’d be saying, but it’s winter at the moment and a little cold first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Everywhere is also air conditioned, the malls, the hotels, the bus. Also handy for keeping the sun off your bare arms, neck and head during the heat of the day and great for spreading out on the beach to sit on and for drying yourself off after a dip in the sea to cool down.

·      Sunglasses

The sun is very low in the sky and I can feel headaches building if I don’t permanently wear them.

A week's holiday in Dubai

Well my first impressions of Dubai wasn't great, but the place has grown on me as the week has gone on.

We're staying at a hotel on the beach front, the Sheraton Jumeriah, with breakfast included and full use of the pool and sun loungers. There are a couple of public free beaches, where you bring your own towels and chairs or for 5 AED per visit you can use the hotels towels and sun loungers.

 The Metro is easy to use and for 16 AED per day you can travel the full length of the city including to and from the airport and all the buses from the station to the beach or inland, be prepared to stand for most of the journey during peak times. You can pick up a bus and metro route map from the terminals, which also names the attractions and hotels so you know where to get on and off. Standing in the rear carriage gives you excellent views of the City.

The Emirates Mall and Dubai Mall can be reached directly from the Metro, although be prepared for a bit of a walk. There is free wifi in Dubai Mall, although the wifi in Emirates Mall requires you have a cell number to have a message sent to, to receive your password.

There are plenty of tours available. The best value is a boat taxi across the river in Old Dubai at 1 AED each way. For a longer trip or a trip round Palm Island out in the Gulf prices start from 150 AED.

The only tour I took part in was the visit to 'at the top' at the Burj Khalifa, The World's tallest tower. I was however disappointed to discover that visitors only travel to 452ms of the 828m height on floor 124 of 160, still the views of Dubai were pretty amazing. It cost 150 AED if you book a time slot in advance or 400 AED if you turn up without a booking and there is space.

Prices appear to be in general cheaper than the UK, but the cost of eating and drinking is far more expensive than South Africa and alcohol is restricted mainly to hotels, there are non alcoholic beers/champagne/cocktails on the menu.

I particularly enjoyed a visit to the old part of Dubai, reached by the Metro and a short walk and a river trip. I felt very comfortable in the Souq, I managed to get out without buying a Pashmina or any real 'fake' goods as they described the phones and handbags they had for sale.

I also spent a lot of time on foot, walking around Dubai Marina. For me living in South Africa I loved the freedom to be out and about, find free wifi and use public transport. I did however get the feeling that I was indoors all the time, I was reminded of Las Vegas and the 'falseness' of the malls and hotels there. The outdoors, indoors.