Polka Dotty

I shall blame the purchase of this jumper on two things: my love of Harry Potter and Gem's persuasive ways. When we were living it up in Warwick we got chatting about how much I loved the jumper when she'd blogged about it and then she revealed it was in the sale on The Orphan's Arms outlet site. Well, I had to buy it, didn't I?

It arrived and I was torn between thinking "ZOMG I love you" and "Waaah, something this short won't flatter my awful stomach". Normally my sensible head would make me send it back but my impractical head won out in this instance. I'll just have to be careful what I wear it with. It's starting to turn into the right sort of weather to wear thin jumpers over frocks, so that's what I did.

Chuck in a nice pair of heels and I think that makes it dressy enough for work, don't you? Irregular Choice shoes always improve an outfit. This is why I own so many of them! These particular ones are very old but a real favourite of mine. Just the perfect heel height to wear all day and not end up with ruined feet.

I felt like this was an appropriate level of owl/literary themed rings for one outfit.

Dress - Matalan £5 sale
Jumper - The Orphan's Arms
Heels - Irregular Choice via ebay
Owl ring - Landbaby
Once Upon A Time ring - MerCurios
Owl & book ring - present from Char

Getting Dressed

Goodness me, I feel as if I've forgotten how to get dressed recently, let alone do an outfit post.  I am fighting a joint battle against the last, lingering effects of the plague (I have been blowing my nose for 10 days now - it is SORE) and trying to reduce the overwhelming amounts of stuff that I own. More on the decluttering saga at a later date, but in brief - so much stuff.  No room.  Am living surrounded by towering heaps of crap that I don't know what to do with.  Help.

Despite the fact that I've actually done some ironing for once (I know, right? I'm as surprised by this as you are), it doesn't mean clothes are actually accessible at the moment.  I just cast my eye over the easily reachable things and went: t-shirt, yup, shorts, yup, still not warm enough to go bare legged so tights, yup, boots, yup.  This pair were so desperate to be worn that they fell out of the wardrobe and threw themselves across the room.

Note to self.  Don't take outfit photos at 5pm.  You look crumpled.

Tshirt - Hero and Cape
Shorts - H by Henry Holland, Debenhams sale
Boots - Aldo, Asos sale
Rings - Landbaby (owl) and Dorothy Perkins sale (white)

Jeans (and why I loathe shopping for them)

I think that shopping for jeans is one of the most unrelentingly miserable tasks in the shopping universe. It can never be described as fun. If you want a nice pair of shoes, well, you wander round various shops going "Oooh" or "Ergh!" as the mood strikes you. A size 6 is generally a size 6. If you want a nice pair of jeans you have to wade through 47 different cuts/colours/lengths per store just to narrow it down to which ones you take to the changing rooms. Then comes the dreaded task of trying them on, complicated by the fact that a size 14 is not a size 14. I still don't understand how, IN THE SAME SHOP, a pair of size 12 jeans in one style can be too big and a pair of size 16 jeans in another style not go up over my thighs. Yeah, Next, I am hereby naming and shaming you. Sort your sizing out.

I honestly thought I had struck lucky. I've been buying Dorothy Perkins dark wash skinny short jeans for a good few years now and they've always been a good fit, a good colour and even better, a really good price: £15 (and often on offer for cheaper). Things appear to have changed with my latest pair.

I still like the colour and price very much but the fit has changed. I actually like the fact they sit a bit higher up than my previous pairs but that slight tweak seems to be matched to an increase in leg length. Now I don't think I've shrunk, but my other pairs have always sat nicely at the right length. These are decidedly too long, hence today's turn-ups.

I'm not sure I can face the drama of finding a new style from a new shop. Probably easier just to take these up myself.




Hey ho. At least my cardigan gives me no woes. I made the official Charity Shop Noise Of Joy when I found it. It reminds me ever so strongly of the things that the Dreaded Grandma (an entirely affectionate nickname: she was lovely really) used to knit for me when I was little. Little pearlised buttons and everything!




Top - H&M
Cardi - Charity shop
Jeans - Dorothy Perkins
Coat - Kookai via car boot sale
Brogues - Dune, vastly reduced in the TK Maxx sale
Pearls - honestly can't remember
Ring - Landbaby