Playing with Purple

This week seems to have been the purple week.  When I have looked into my wardrobe each night to see what I want to wear the following day, my hand has increasing been drawn to the purple end  of the spectrum.

Today I have for you the Purple PU Trim Shift Dress from +Scarlett Jo This dress is shortly than I would ordinarily wear but for these photographs I decided to get my legs out and have a play.  You could also easily wear this dress with tights and boots or even with leggings.

I love the PU detailing on the dress which gives it an edgier feel.

I have also decided to play around with an up do as the detailing on the dress practically demanded to be shown off.  Apologies about the lighting in some of these photographs, I am really struggling for good light conditions when I come home from work!

Dress from Scarlett & Jo - found here
Shoes: +Simply Be

Obligatory pout selfie

* This item was kindly gifted to me but all opinions are, as ever, my own.

High Waisted Jeans

Whilst I am a dress girl at heart, lately I have been looking around at the season's latest offerings and have seen some beautiful tops, for both daytime and evening, which I would love to wear.  

My separates collection is very small indeed and I find myself searching for the perfect fitting pair of high waisted jeans that I can pair with some of the beautiful tops I have seen.

I have recently been provided with an infographic from Fashion World in which they have provided tips and suggestions about the 4 essential types of trousers that every woman needs in their wardrobe. 

Having asked me which my preference was they requested that I give them some styling tips.  They have created the below graphic for me where you can see what I have chosen and my comments!

* Written in collaboration with Fashion World

Taming the Butterfly

Today on the blog I have for you a dress that I bought from the gorgeous Lolly Likes

I have been meaning to show you this dress for a while now but finally managed to photograph it.  I believe that the dress comes from +New Look

I have worn this dress throughout the summer and it survived the "packing away for winter" cull as I wasn't ready to stop wearing it.  I wear it now with tights, a cardigan and some boots.

Now, there is something going on underneath the dress that I also wanted to tell you about.  Take your mind out of the gutter please!

I am wearing the Best Form Slim control shaping high briefs * I like to put shapewear under many of my dresses in order to have a smoother line but finding shapewear that both works and is comfortable is something akin to finding the holy grail.

I want a smoothing line, whilst still being comfortable and unrestricted and above all, something that is going to stay in place and not roll down half way through the day as can happen with so much shapewear.

These shaping high briefs have two silicone anti slip strips to the top which enable the shapewear to stay in place whilst not getting sticky against your skin.  They feel great to wear and I will be purchasing more very soon.

Have you found your perfect shapewear yet?

* Denotes gifted item

SimplyBe Prom Dress

Today I have a beautiful dress to show you from +Simply Be   I am saying this in a whisper in case it runs away however as this dress appears to be very camera shy.

I bought the luxe print prom dress months ago and have worn it on a few special occasions but for some reason, I have never managed to get photographs of myself in it.  Either I forget the camera or the photographs turn out blurred; something always seems to happen to prevent me showing the prom dress to you.

You know sometimes you will try a dress on and you feel nothing short of amazing in it?  You get a little warm glow and your confidence goes up a notch or two?  This is what this dress does for me. 

As you will see from my photographs the lighting isn't great so the dress is still trying to hide away from the limelight.  Naughty dress.  The girls in the pictures are my beautiful friends Shona and Vicky by the way :)

Source

BooHoo Ruby Leaf Print Jumpsuit

I was recently contacted by +boohoo.com and asked if I wanted to try out something from their new plus size range and of course, I jumped at the chance!

There were quite a few different options that I few for, such as the Paisley Print Batwing Dress (which I still think I need in my wardrobe pronto!) and the Paisley Print Trousers.

In the end though I decided to go for what has been my nemesis so far, the jumpsuit!  I have tried out three different versions of jumpsuits in the past and none have been right for me so I was hoping that the Ruby Leaf Print Wrap Front Jumpsuit would fit the bill.

This jumpsuit is 95% Polyester, 5% Elastane and comes up true to size.  If you are a little busty like me than you may want to put a little camisole on underneath or pop a strategic stitch in order to avoid any gaping.

I absolutely love the print and decided to go big with the accessories, little a wide belt (old), a chunky necklace that I picked up from a shop on Ebay and my reliable +Simply Be heels and crochet cardigan.

Although I love the jumpsuit I am not entirely about it on me.  I would ideally prefer for my particular body shape for it to come in at the waist, which I have done by adding the belt instead. 

The colour, the material, the print and the elastic around the ankles are all things that I love about the jumpsuit so I must therefore conclude that the only thing I don't like, is me in it!  Actually you can strike that, I do like me in it, but I am so far off the edge of my comfort zone that I am practically absailing.

I would highly recommend this jumpsuit for anyone who has a penchant for them and indeed, anyone who has yet to try one.

Vicky xx

* Item gifted but all opinions my own as always



New Outfit of the Day

I haven't been able to do many outfit posts lately but I wanted to share with you what I am wearing today for work.

I love outfits that you can just throw on and feel comfortable it.  I particularly love my necklace today although I confess that it is a bit on the heavy side!

The attempt to look sultry but ending up Monday morning grumpy look

 
The dress is from +Very.co.uk for the bargain price of £25.00, the cardigan and sandals are from +Simply Be and the necklace I found in a charity shop.

Suits You 2

Today is the second instalment in a new monthly challenge called Suits You created by the gorgeous Leah of ThirtySomethingCurvyMe.

Every month we are given a different blogger who is involved in this challenge to style an outfit for.  Having only ever styled myself I am not sure how good I will be at this but can't wait to give it a go!  For this month I am styling the lovely Kathryn and you can check her out on the below links:

Blog address: http://www.misskathrynsmisstakes.co.uk/

Twitter: @kathroooon

Instagram: misskathryn84

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/misskathrynsmisstakes

I have always loved Kathryn's style and I enjoy her work outfits of the day pictures on Instagram as she loves dressing up for work just as I do.  She rocks both separates and dresses and has a penchant for a pretty cardigan to tie everything together.  Hope you like what I have chosen Kathryn!

Turn of the Sensory Dress from ModCloth - £38.00 in the sale, bargain!
The Owl and the Moon Necklace from NotontheHighstreet.com - £115.00 (a little budget breaking!)
Scallop Clutch Bag from Asos - £12.00
Natural's Own Bow Ballerina from SimplyBe - £25.00

Please take a moment to check out the other ladies who are also involved in the styling challenge!

Bird Printed Doll Dress

A couple of Saturdays ago I attended the +Simply Be store in the Arndale Centre, Manchester.  You can read about my visit here

I was lucky enough to given £50.00 to spend in store and after playing dress up and taking photographs with the magic mirror (which you need to try, it's brilliant) I decided on the Bird Printed Doll Dress * I had previously seen the dress on the lovely Sally from The Human Mannequin and thought that she looked gorgeous so wanted to try it for myself.

My magic mirror picture from the store.

I sized up with this dress to accomodate the boobage, but i think most people would find it true to size.

I first decided to style the dress with the office in mind (yes, I like to dress up) and so went with a chunky necklace and my black ankle boots from Dorothy Perkins.

After taking the pictures however I was going out in the afternoon so decided to keep the dress on and style it down a little by changing the chunky for three long ones and adding some black sparkly sandals, from +Fashion World .

The bird necklaces are from Primark

The red heart necklace was a bargain £1 from Ebay

I adore the print on the dress and I like the high-low detailing.  I will be getting a lot of wear out of this dress all summer and with the addition of a cardigan it will probably take me into autumn too!

* Denotes gifted item

Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress

Hello all!

Just a quick post where I thought that I would show you what I wore on Saturday in readiness for my photo shoot with Capturing the Curves.

I wanted to wear something that would put me in a fifties frame of mind so I went with a dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe for a while but I haven't had chance to wear.  The Joe Brown Vintage Tea Dress from +Simply Be 

I bought this dress a few weeks ago now and at the time wasn't sure about whether to keep it, but now I absolutely adore it.  For me, it just needed a wide black belt to pull the look together.

Taking Shape Store Visit

I was recently asked if I wanted to check out the Taking Shape Southport store to have an appointment with their personal stylist and try on some of their pieces. 

Now to start off I should say that I can't even remember the last time that I did a shopping trip in the high street. Where I live there is nowhere that I can shop and I have been buying online for probably the past six or seven years.  I had completely forgotten what the "in store" experience was like and I confess, I was more than a little nervous.

I need not have worried.  My stylist Sharon was absolutely lovely and immediately put me right at ease.  I had a look around the store prior to my styling session and was very impressed with what I saw.   What particularly impressed me was the amount of frankly fantastic jewellery available (I would wear all of it) and the fact that many of the clothing items had been styled with a necklace or accessory to give you an idea of how it would look like on.

After a restorative coffee we headed to the spacious changing rooms which were airy and well set out.  I still remember the horrors of changing rooms from years ago, ill shutting curtains, no room to move around etc etc!  There were lots of mirrors and a comfortable sofa which made you want to linger rather than hurriedly try something on and make a quick decision.

Here are some of the outfits I tried on.  I have tried to link where I can!

Cria Dress £39.00

I have previously seen this dress on Betty Pamper and it was my first choice for trying on.  The fit was just right and I loved the leopard print touches throughout the patterning.  It has gone on my "To Buy" List!

Honor Dress £39.00

This dress has a very strong floral print to it and makes quite a statement on, which I like.  This type of dress I would probably wear for work.  Yes, I dress up for work but hey, why not!

Tropical Maxi Dress £49.00
I loved loved loved this dress.  For some clever reason I can't tell you it makes me look taller and I loved the necklace detailing to the neckline.  This came home* with me, ready for Summer time frolics!

Enchanted Lands Dress £40.00

I am gutted that we didn't manage to get a great photograph of this dress as it was one of my favourites of the day and one that I took home* with me.

Lexa Dress - £45.00

I really wanted to try this dress as I haven't worn a stripe print before and was interested to see how it would look.  I really loved the dress and personally, I loved the stripes!

Annabell Pullover £35.00
Bella Vista Trousers £29.00

This was without a doubt the surprise outfit of the day.  I NEVER wear trousers and have never worn orange before but the combination just seemed to work perfectly.  I felt stylish and yet comfortable.  Both items have also gone on my shopping list as I regretted leaving them behind as soon as I got home!

Gigli Pullover £45.00
Summer Night's Necklace £15.00
Visa Versa Trousers £39.00

After trying the previous combination I then moved on to the above outfit.  I loved the trousers which were silky to the touch and had a drawstring at the bottom in order to create different looks.

Looming Necklace £10.00
Water Colour Dress £55.00

This was such a pretty dress and the picture doesn't quite do it justice.  It was a fabulously swooshy dress, yes, that's a word :)  I just wanted to spin around and around in it.

Olivia Dress £39.00

I absolutely love a paisley print but am not quite sure I can get away with it in this dress.  What do you think?

Uninhabited Tee £35.00

One thing I do want to talk about is the lengths of the dresses.  One constant irritant of mine is that so many of the dresses that have been around for the past few seasons are at that length where tights or leggings are needed.  

All of the dresses I tried on were knee length or just below, basically hitting me exactly where I wanted (I am 5ft4).  When wearing a pretty dress I don't want to wear leggings (just my personal preference) so I could happily wear any of these dresses bared legged, as I have in the photographs.

All in all I had a brilliant couple of hours at the Taking Shape store.  The theme tune to Pretty Woman was playing on repeat in my head and I have never had so much fun trying on clothes in a shop before.

Taking Shape's clothing is all about interesting cuts, bold prints and patterns and completely works with the way I love to dress.  If I ever win the lottery, just pack up the whole store and I would be good to go!

* I was not paid to write this review of the Taking Shape store, however I was gifted two items as denoted with the * above.