Perfect Tweedy Coat Review

I was recently asked by +Simply Be if I wanted to have a look through their current Winter coats and chose one for review. 

I always tend to chose coats that are either practical but plain or stylish but conservative so this time I wanted to chose something that was both warm and stylish; but also just a little bit special.  I also had an eye out for something that would work either day or evening and could be used during the week at work or to dress up a weekend outfit.  Yes, I wanted a lot!!

After much searching through the various styles, colours and shapes, I decided upon the Joe Brown Perfect Purple Tweedy Coat 

I have taken photographs of the coat wearing a black bodycon dress that I wore to work this week and also in a pair of leggings and a tunic dress that I would normally wear at the weekend.  The Purple Tweedy Coat is definately a coat that can be used on all occasions, except perhaps a muddy field, by why would you want to do that to something so pretty?

At £110.00 it is on the higher side of what would be my budget for a Winter coat, but it ticks every single box for me and works doubly well for work or play. 

The coat has a luxurious feel with attention to detail in the coordinated lining and the detailing on the buttons.  It is warm and the neckline can be worn higher or lower depending on how cold it is.  One thing it is missing is pockets however that may have detracted from the lines of the coat.

One thing to mention, the buttons on the coat, mine at least, were quite loose and on the second of time of wearing, one fell off, never to be seen again.  Thankfully there is a spare button and I have restitched them all so they are all now secure.

I feel like a million dollars in this coat, I really do.  I have never been a real lover of coats before this year as they always seem to be teamed with the word "serviceable" which I hate.  This coat is stylish, comfortable and absolutely fabulous.

What will you be wearing this Winter?

 *This coat was gifted to me however all my opinions are my own

Vlog! 10 Blogger Questions

I have recently seen both the fabulous Nikki and also Leah do this vlog challenge so I thought that I would do one too.

I didn't have the hindsight not to do it after a long day at work so I am a bit "off".  Sorry about that!

Sunday Style

I went out for a lovely meal yesterday with family so thought I would share my outfit and also my new hair, newly coloured to a much darker shade than I had anticipated, but I love it!

You have seen this dress before on the blog, but I love it so much, it’s here again.



I also had to show you this photograph of my mum.  She never believes me when I tell her how amazing she looks.  She is 73 believe it or not.   I can only hope I look as good as she does at her age.

What have you been doing this weekend?

Review of Butterfly Print Tea Dress

+Simply Be recently let me choose a couple of pieces for review.  When I found the Butterfly Print Tea Dress, I knew that this would be a must have.

I chose this dress at first as I thought that it would be a great work dress as it looked cool and comfortable.  Perfect for the office.  After trying it on with various combination though it would look just as well out for a lunch with the girls or on a date!

I have styled this dress today with dark coral shoes to bring out the same tones in the butterfly pattern together with a black statement necklace.    This is a great look for a summer’s day but it could equally be easily restyled for winter with a cardigan, coloured tights and a big belt.

I know I will get a lot of wear out of this dress as there are lots of different ways to wear it.  It feels a little vintage on me, which I love, and the next combination will most definately include some classic Mary Jane style shoes!

 Butterfly Print Tea Dress £35.00

Shoes (past season) +Dorothy Perkins 

Review of Ruby Rocks Dress

I was recently lucky enough to be allowed to choose a few items from +Simply Be  for review.

I have had my eye on this Ruby Rocks Print Tie Tunic Dress for some time now and so this was the first item that I chose.  I love the midnight blue colour and the unusual pattern.  On me (5ft 4) the length is above the knee but not too much, and the keyhole at the neckline of the dress falls just right with being too low.

I was a little worried when I first got the dress out of the packaging that I may have to wait to review it until Autumn/Winter due to the colouring, but styling it with bare legs, open toed heels and some red lipstick solved any qualms I had. 

The material is dense enough that I didn’t need to worry about the sun making it see-through but not too thick that I was too warm.  The dress is true to size and really comfortable.

In Summer I would wear this dress at any evening party or event styled as below, and in Winter with opaque tights which will give it a completely different look, like having two dresses in one!

I was so impatient to try out this dress that I taken all the photos myself, fighting attacking plants in the garden and balancing my camera precariously on thin walls.  Note to self, buy a tripod.

Attack of the killer plants!

The Ruby Rocks Print Tie Neck Tunic Dress is currently on sale with SimplyBe for £28.00 so I urge you to rush over to the website and grab yourself a bargain.

* I was not paid to write this review and all my opinions are my own

Paisley & Lace - My Way

I saw Lace Paisley Maxi Dress dress weeks ago on +Simply Be and was instantly drawn to the gorgeous pinks and purples of the paisley patterning as well as the lace detailing to the top and bottom of the dress.

My only issue with it was that as a maxi dress, for me personally I knew that I would not get as much wear out of it as I would with a shorter dress. If I could have chopped off the bottom of the dress then I would have bought it instantly, however you don’t pay £45.00 for a dress and then cut it up!

Happily though when I saw the fabulous Becky wearing the dress on her blog MrsBeBeBlog she kindly noted at the end of the post that the dress was now on sale. I headed over to the SimplyBe website and found it for the absolute steal price of £18.50.

Now a £45.00 dress I wouldn’t cut up, but £18.50? Hell yes.

So with the help of my talented mum who can wield a sewing needle far better than I, we chopped the dress off at the knees. I have gained a dress that will work with me in a variety of situations and my mum has used the excess lace to fashion a lace wrap to go with one of her dresses. Result!

Earrings from +Dorothy Perkins 

Have you ever taken  the scissors to one of your dresses?

All a Bit of a Cock-tail

Hello!

Last week I did a post about a new dress that I had recently bought from +Simply Be  but couldn’t decide how to wear it.  After reading Choices, Choices the majority decided that the red cardigan was the way forward.

Last night I went for a catch up afternoon/evening with the girls and had great plans for taking photographs of me in the day out in the City, with better backdrops than my usual bedroom wall. 

However, what I was of course forgetting was the fact that I was out with the girls and we were having cocktails.  I managed one photograph of me, one of my hotel window view, and the rest of our various cocktails!

A room with a view

The chosen outfit!

You know you have had too many cocktails when you try to
(badly)  backlight your drink with a candle

A brilliant evening and a clear headed morning followed thanks to a humongous breakfast at the Premier Inn. 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Choices, Choices

I am going on a girl’s day/night out in Manchester on Friday. It is an event that a group of friends and I like to try and arrange every few months as we all live in different places and don’t get to catch up very often.

I have been looking for a dress that will take me from afternoon to evening and also something summery and bright. I refuse to think that it will be anything else other than glorious sunshine.

I recently found the Floral Border Print Dress from the Koko range at +Simply Be  and completely fell in love. I have never worn any of these colours before and certainly not in that combination. The print of the dress made me thinking of a Monet painting and I couldn’t resist buying it.

I confess that I am more than a little nervous to wear this dress as it is the most “look at me” item of clothing that I have ever owned. You certainly won’t be able to miss me in it and that in itself is terrifying me (shush, don’t tell anything I told you), so much so that I decided to have a test run of the whole outfit.

I’ve gone a few different ways with the styling of the outfit combining cardigans and shoes and can’t decide which way to go so decided to ask for your thoughts???

Look One

Red cardigan, nude and black shoes

Look Two

Black cardigan, black strappy shoes or alternatively.....

Look Three

Screw the cardigan & black shoes.

Answers on a postcard, or just in the comments box which might by easier ;)

Times Flies

Eighteen years ago today, whilst I was in the middle of my GCSE English exam, my sister was in labour with my niece Georgia.  Quite where the eighteen years has gone since I’m not quite sure.

She has grown up into a gorgeous, confident, talented girl and I’m very proud of her.

 

Tonight in celebration of her birthday all the family went out for a meal to a local Italian to celebrate.  

I was in a bit of a tizz before the meal as I only had twenty minutes to get ready after work and what exactly do you wear so you look too young to have an eighteen year old niece?

Bad blogger that I am, I haven't done any outfit posts for a couple of weeks now so thought I would take a few photographs tonight of what I wore.

I decided to go with my Joe Brown +Simply Be  dress and a shrug from Yours Clothing.  One bracelet is from Cyrus and the pearl bracelet is from +Dorothy Perkins.  The lovely bird necklace I bought from www.NotontheHighStreet.com

Have you had any special occasions lately?

Anti Idiot Software

When I didn’t have any confidence, what I had instead was a self preservation system in place that would have rivaled Fort Knox with the thickness of the walls around me. In the main I kept myself “safe” from harm by keeping everyone away, but the lone assassin could easily walk through the gates and hurt me.

Now I’ve found confidence, the walls are down and in their place is what I would describe as a firewall. Invisible to the eye, a thin layered deflector that is my personality which negativity just bounces off.

Like any firewall, occasionally malware can get through but unlike the walls that you previously built which had to be rebuilt higher and stronger, with a firewall, you can just reboot and run antivirus. In order words, anti-idiot.

In the weird world that is my head this is what I run through when I hear a rude comment or something hurtful. I roll my eyes, run “anti-idiot” and my firewall bounces back the comment through a little “screw you” spark in my eyes.

Promoting confidence in others is something that is becoming more and more important to me. You can have confidence at any size. It isn’t about promoting a certain weight, it’s about having self worth, self confidence and the knowledge that if people insult you, that is their problem, not yours.

I always wanted to have the confidence to wear bright colours and patterns and now I wear them everyday. My main goal when it comes to clothing was to be able to wear a red dress. I have a thing about red and have red lipsticks, red handbags, red shoes, but have never had the confidence to wear a red dress.

Now the warm weather is here and I'm wearing my red dress from +Simply Be Apologies for the self photos but I wanted to get out in the sunshine!