Wombling Around

New Year means that it's time to bust out all your new Christmas gifts, right?

Well, behold the Wombles frock and amazing shoes!



Char made me this utterly fabulous frock for Christmas - isn't she amazing?? I have wanted some Wombles fabric foreverrrrrrr but it's hard to find. I've got a Wombles pillowcase but that ain't gonna magically transform into a dress, is it? This is beautiful and it's green. Me = delighted.



ALL THE WOMBLES!



My brother and sister-in-law got me these gorgeous Irregular Choice heels. They pick epic presents.



Perhaps a slightly lively choice for first-day-back-to-work heels but it's January and frankly, we need all the additional sparkle we can get.


Dress - handmade by Char
Cardi - Tu
Heels - Irregular Choice Mostaccio

Frumpy Florals

I'm a little undecided about this frock. Bit frumpy? Maybe. Am I massively bothered by this? Not really. Can't win them all.



The pics were taken on Tuesday when I was so tired after a monstrously busy Bank Holiday weekend at work that getting dressed at all was a triumph in itself. I was strongly tempted to roll into work in my Kermit onesie.  Oh, so tempted.

The frock looked better at 8.30am when it was freshly ironed and I hadn't sat down in it. Then I did and I discovered that it wrinkles like a mofo. Oh well.  A crinkly dress is not the end of the world, is it?  Especially when you bought it for buttons in a charity shop.



It's very pretty and it matches my jaunty red shoes, so that's good enough for me.

Spot the safety pin above though... I sense this frock is designed for someone with a longer torso or larger boobs than me. Pins were definitely required to preserve my modesty!

Dress - F&F via charity shop
Cardi - Tu
Waterproof pumps - Mel

Stained Glass and Size 10

Sarah persuaded me to get this dress. Not that it took much persuasion! It looked so pretty on her that as soon as I saw it hit the sale in December, I snapped it up. If you're tempted to do the same, bear in mind her wise words: size down. At least two sizes. Unless you're a fan of smocky frocks. (I'm not).



I'm normally a size 14 and this one is a size 10 and it's still loose.  I could probably have got away with a size 8 (Ha! That'd be the only time I'd ever have one of those in my wardrobe!) but I initially bought this to wear on Christmas Day and given the amount of roast potatoes and stuffing ducks I managed to shovel into my face, the extra stretch was needed! It pleases me greatly to be wearing a size 10, even if it isn't a real size 10.



It has a touch of the Magic Eye picture about it. People seem to like it on first glance, then five minutes later they'll have a closer look and go "is that stained glass windows on your dress?".  And I say "yes, yes it is," and skip off happily.




Stained glass dress - ASOS (currently available here in the ASOS sale for a very respectable £21)
Cardi - TU
Shoes - Irregular Choice Bowtiful

Hares & Hair

I've given up on trying to get warm at work. My office has no central heating and although the little electric heater struggles mightily, it can't warm the place up till about lunchtime. Looking at the bright side, things haven't quite reached the horrific levels of a couple of years ago when it was minus temperatures and I had to wear a coat, gloves and scarf at my desk all day.

 I celebrated the (relatively) mild temperatures this week by wearing a really thin dress. It's definitely more of a spring/summer thing than a winter one but hey ho. The high heels are also kinda inappropriate but hey, they're comfy, and if there's no ice in January, that's cause for celebration!



Poor unloved frock. It's beautiful, kinda flattering and a really cute part of the #wardrobezoo, so why have I only worn it twice in all the years I've owned it? It must have some magic ability to hide behind other things in the wardrobe because I never notice it in there.



This year I shall wear it more.


Hares

Hair


Frock - People Tree
Cardi - Tu
Red shoes - Dorothy Perkins
Necklaces - Sunday Girl and Dubrovnik market

Feeling Blue

Panic not. The title of this post isn't literal. I'm not gloomy or anything. I'm actually fairly hyper due to my usual high intake of coffee and the prospect of a day volunteering at the British Eventing competition at Kelsall Hill tomorrow. Yay, horses!

I just somehow ended up wearing many, many shades of blue. Cardi, coat, shoes, tights, jewellery..even my specs are blue! If you squint hard enough then the bag and skirt could be classed as grey-ish blue and greeny-blue. Right? Oh ok then, not really.  But considering I didn't even think I owned this many blue things, that's quite good! It's not generally a colour that appeals to me but I may be changing my mind on that point.

Did I mention yay, horses!  Cos look, they're on my top.  Yay, horses!  I bought this in Bath (tres appropriate given the Regency/carriage driving heritage) on a complete whim.  You know when you walk past a shop and your pattern radar locks in on something awesome?  It was one of those moments. I had to buy it. It's brilliant.

Top - Oasis
Cardi & skirt - H&M sales
Coat - Tu
Flat shoes - StylistClick
Bag - Accessorize, birthday present
Ring - Next Clearance
Necklace - Sunday Girl

A Few Of My Favourite Things

It's not a Sound of Music reference. Just little things about today's outfit that make me smile:

#wardrobezoo

Sparkly shoes

Messy top knots

Mary flipping Poppins

New lippy. MAC Creme Cup to be exact.

Buttons on cardis

Fun earrings

Rescuing a long-forgotten frock from the mending pile and making it wearable with a new zip.

Dress - New Look (I think...the label has been lopped off) via New Life

Handmade cardi - charity shop

Peacoat - Tu

Flat shoes-Stylist Click

Earrings - River Island

Initial necklace - Sunday Girl

Mary Poppins necklace - Etsy

Red, White and Ooooh

Do you ever think to yourself "Oh I've got loads of shoes/accessories/cardigans"?  I do it all the time, mostly when struggling to cram things into my annoyingly small wardrobe.  Yet when it comes down to it, it doesn't mean I actually vary my style choices that much.

Perhaps it's because of storage issues or because I'm terrible at doing the ironing but I often stick to the same cardi for several different outfits, or will wear one set of earrings or necklace for about two weeks in a row.  I don't even notice I'm doing it until I actually put two sets of outfit photos together like I have here.  Both outfits were worn over the Jubilee weekend (I know, I know, I am late at posting the pictures.  Don't all hit me with your discarded bunting) and are on the red, white and blue side of things,  so perhaps that's another reason why.  After all, even I don't need more than one pair of red Mary Janes.

What I do need is pretty much every sort of leg and foot related accessory that M&S Limited Collection are producing at the moment.  Check out the socks. 

I know they're not odd but I believe I've already mentioned at some point that knee high socks are the exception to the Odd Sock Law.

Shorts & tshirt - H&M

Cardi - Matalan

Socks - Marks & Spencer Limited Collection

Shoes and necklace (it's actually a headband) - Dorothy Perkins sale

Bangles & ring - Primark

And the tights!  Ooooh, aren't they just amazing?!

 

It's London.  On my legs!

Dress - via New Life

Cardi - Tu

Tights - Marks & Spencer Limited Collection

Shoes & headband (actually worn as a headband) - Dorothy Perkins sale


Too, too tempting.  Perhaps I can make room in my tights suitcase and sock drawer just for a few more... After all, I don't think I've ever said "Oh I've got too many tights."

Fortune Favours The Forgetful

Saturday was a little hectic. 5 hours sleep, up and into work for 8am, a busy half day and then a zoom up the motorway as I was kitten sitting for my brother who was off running the Brighton Half Marathon (1 hr 39 - he is speedy!). It's probably no great surprise that I managed to forget to take his house keys to work with me and had to make an annoying detour home to collect them. I then promptly forgot to get any cash out whilst I was at the supermarket and had to make yet another detour to a cashpoint. But this turned out to be an extremely lucky pitstop because there were two charity shops right next to the bank. I found 3 good books in one and then this absolutely gorgeous green velvet blazer in the other. It's vintage but I can only think that it has been stored carefully in a cupboard by its previous owner as it's in absolutely immaculate condition. Only £5! Clearly my forgetfulness pays off at times.

(this is why I don't try and smile in photos. Pudding face.)

Blazer - vintage St Michael via Marie Curie charity shop

Top - Zara, present

Skirt - Primark

Brooch - vintage, present from my lovely Vix

Rings - Primark (snake) , Tu (green stone)

Shoes - Irregular Choice via ebay. Can't remember the style name but I think it's something to do with dinosaurs?

I know a good half of you will read this and think "what the hell has she got on her feet?". To me, this is the beauty of IC shoes. They always hold a good resale value but the more mainstream styles frequently sell on ebay for upwards of £40 and often very close to their original RRP. Some of the slightly odder styles don't attract as much attention and if you happen to be the sort that likes them, bargains can be found! These were well under £20 including p&p and I love them.

p.s - KITTENS!! So adorable but crikey, they're tiring to be around. So much energy. Oscar is positively restful by comparison.

p.p.s - I am ready to murder Blogger. It's taken 4 hours to upload these pictures and it then decided to overwrite two paragraphs and immediately autosave it, meaning I couldn't even CTRL and Z to recover it. ARGH!