Sunday Favourites #23

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you're all having a lovely day what ever you're up to, and that the Easter bunny way kind to you!

If you're taking it easy, why not sit back and relax with a little Sunday inspiration? Enjoy.

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I'm loving this petrol effect eye make up. The pop of gold shadow is so unusual over purple, but it really works and grabs your attention. I shall have to do my own spin on this look at some point.

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This dress is lovely!

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This skirt is amazing. The skirt dreams are made of.

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Isn't this yellow dress stunning? The shape is lovely, and the collar finishes it off perfectly.

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This image comes from a 1950s inspired wedding, which looks like the perfect wedding down to every last detail. If vintage is your thing, follow the source and check it out!

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This woman has the most perfect hair style and colour. Dream hair!

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I adore this eye make up look, and all these gorgeous colours together. This is definitely going on my list of looks to try!

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Loving this fiery eye make up look.

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How cute is this manicure?

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I'd love to learn how to create cakes as pretty and intricate as these. They're amazing.

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Love this.

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No rainbows without rain.

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The bedroom area looks so light and airy.

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I think this image of an abandoned railway line is beautiful. It comes from a post of some of the most amazing abandoned places in the world. Take a look!

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This is brilliant!

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So true!

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This really make me laugh!

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And the most random image of the week award goes to...

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F*ck the begrudgers, and be proud of who you are!

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This squirrel was found in a bag of mulch when it was a tiny little newborn, and was taken home, nursed, and cared for. It grew up in to this happy little rodent!

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This tiny little turtle lives on a strawberry farm in Australia.

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And I shall leave you with perhaps the happiest dog in the world. And people say all Pit Bulls are ferocious and dangerous! Follow the source to see more adorable photos of this pup with these little bunnies and chick.

I'm boring but overcompensate with headlines and flash, flash, flash photography

Apart from a car ride home from my sister's on Tuesday morning, this past week has been spent hibernating in bed.

At first I was advised to rest to allow my toe to recover, but thankfully that's eased considerably over the last few days- although it still hurts to move it, or if anything so much as grazes against it, but it's not a bother. As per usual, my back has been the hand manipulating the strings. It didn't cope well with a two hour hospital appointment, and has been searing hot agony ever since. The worst it's been in a while. I've struggled to move, and even sit up in bed, so have spent most of the week fan-girling over Fall Out Boy horizontally in bed. I'm so excited that one of my all time favourite bands has reunited with new material! And yes, I know I'm twenty-seven!

Yesterday was much of the same, but I had to leave my bed on a quest to find Easter eggs for my sisters; which means I threw an outfit together, and stood up long enough to snap a few photos to bring you this outfit post today!

I bought this lovely red shirt dress from ASOS Curve last Summer, but until yesterday had only worn it once.  I've been itching to wear it this week, so I popped it over black leggings, and wore it with a black cardigan to pop to the shops.

 The dress has buttons from collar to hem, which are hidden by a panel down the centre for a neater look, which is a little different to other shirt dresses I've seen and owned. I like that. I personally love the shape of the dress, and how the skirt flares out from the waist to give a great A-line shape. The fabric isn't quite opaque, so it does show a little of my shape through the fabric, but not enough to cause offence... I hope! My favourite feature is the sweet Peter Pan collar, buy more on that below.

I accessorised with ribbon, a green brooch, lip earrings, and a pair of pink Havaianas. I would have preferred to wear this dress with tights, and a pretty pair of shoes, but I can't wear anything which touches my toe right now... which, with this Arctic weather we've been having lately, has been absolute torture. Having bare feet in freezing temperatures is painful, and not advised!

When I posed for these photos, it was trying to snow, and it was bitterly cold. So cold I managed no more than two minutes of shivering before I dashed back inside with my camera. Winter seems to have gone on unusually long this season. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever have warmth and sunshine ever again...

And just to mix things up a bit, here's a rare shot of me wearing glasses! This may actually be a Polka Spots and Freckle Dots first! I hate people seeing me wearing glasses, even though I've been wearing them since I was a year old. I prefer to wear contact lenses but Specsavers won't give me any more until I've had a check up, which just isn't possible right now. So, glasses it is!

I tied a piece of burgundy ribbon in to a bow in the centre of the collar, which I was inspired to do after seeing somebody in a street style section of a magazine do so with a thin piece of black ribbon. I really love the way the ribbon instantly changed the look of the dress, and how pretty this little touch is. I know I will be trying this idea again under other collars with different coloured ribbons!

 I guess if I was really trying to impress you, I would have ironed the collar first, but hey, that's not me.

Outfit Details

Dress-ASOS Curve // Leggings-New Look Inspire // Cardigan-Matalan // Flip Flops-Havaianas (Fuchsia) // 

Brooch-Camden Lock Market // Ribbon-local haberdashers // Glasses-Roxy

Polka Spotted, Freckle Dotted Friday #3

Good morning guys and a Happy Good Friday to you all, as well.

For today's Polka Spotted, Freckle Dotted Friday, I have a little bit of inspiration for you. I've compiled ten images I've collected on Pinterest which give you a little peek at ten polka dot outfits. Enjoy!

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Navy polka dots are my favourite, and this a-line skirt is so beautiful. It looks perfect with that lovely lacy blouse and bow waist belt.

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Spots or stripes? Who cares, wear both! Polka dots look fantastic with stripes!

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Another great example of how well stripes and spots work together.

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Such a cute collar.

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A pair of Converse add a quirky, laid back edge to a pretty dress.

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This lovely yellow skirt looks so cute with a white and navy striped motif tee. I'll be remembering this one for future reference.

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This green polka dot skirt is gorgeous. 

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And this pink polka dot skirt is quite sweet, as well.

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I love the delicate polka dots on this pale salmon Peter Pan collared dress.

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And this one proves polka dots don't have to be just navy or red. I really like the warm Autumn shades to this outfit.

Which photo is your favourite?

How to Wear Colour Post Three

The selection of colours available to us in the fashion world these days is incredible, but it can be overwhelming if you're not sure where to start.

My best piece of advice would be to ignore those colour rules that tell you which colours you should wear and which ones you should avoid, and wear the colours which feel right to you.

The best thing to do is experiment with colour. Try as many different colours and shades on and against your skin as possible. I'd recommend doing this in natural daylight where possible. By doing this you should notice what looks good and what doesn't, and what you like and what you don't. Certain colours will look better on you than others, as different skin tones and complexions are flattered by different colours, but it's up to you to decide if you care about "flattering", or if you just want to wear what you like!

My advice? Just experiment with colour. Try on every colour you find, and have fun learning what colours are right for you!

However, if you want to know which colours are said to be the most flattering for your skin tone, read on...

The best colours for your complexion are not only dictated by your skin colour, but more importantly by the under tone of your skin- whether you have a warm or cool complexion.

An easy way to find out if you're warm or cool coloured, is this:

Stand in front of a mirror in a room well lit with natural day light. Hold some white fabric, and then some cream fabric against your face while you look in to the mirror.

If you're warm toned, the cream fabric will give you a warm glow, but the white fabric will make you look drawn.

If you're cool toned, then the white fabric will give you the glow, and the cream fabric is likely to make you look drawn.

A warm complexion means that you have a yellow undertone to your skin. Your complexion may be yellow-beige, golden-brown, peach, or ivory, for instance. Warm complexions suit greens, teals, golds, oranges, reds, browns, and tans.

A cool complexion is a colouring with a blue under tone. Your complexion may be pale, fair, rosy, olive, or black. Cool complexions suit pinks, purples, lilacs, grey, burgundy, blacks, and blues. 

I found a great image which shows the best colours for your skin tone.

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I'm cool toned, and through years of trial and error, I've discovered that I look best in peacock colours, and brighter shades like cobalt blue, apple green, and turquoise, so in my opinion, the above images are spot on! Although, I don't ever restrict myself to cool colours, as I like wearing warm colours like red and yellow, too.

These are some of the shades and hues you're likely to come across in the fashion world.

Pastel colours are soft, pale shades such as lemon, mint, and lilac, which are typically best worn in Spring time. Pastels are the most subtle way to wear colour, but they can be tricky to pull off if you're very pale like me. I usually find pastel colours wash my very fair skin out. However, pastels are a great way to begin wearing colour and they look fantastic on so many people!

These are the typical colours you would find in Autumn foliage. Think rich shades of gold, orange-brown, khaki, burnt red, camel, and beige- colours with a yellow undertone. These colours suit people with warm complexions best, but I know very fair red heads with cool complexions who look amazing in these colours, too.

Cool colours are those with a blue undertone. For example, burgundy, purple, fuchsia, pink, blue, ice grey, to black and white. The darker shades like burgundy, forest green, and teal are most commonly worn in the Winter months, and the bolder colours such as cobalt blue, fuchsia, and turquoise in the summer. Cool colours are my favourite to wear, but I regularly hear how afraid other people are of wearing the bolder shades as they do take a lot of confidence when you're not used to them.

Neon colours are well... neon. The fluorescent hues most commonly seen are orange, pink, yellow, green, and blue; the colours seen on nineties ravers, and highlighter pens. As neon colours are so bright they aren't to every one's taste- and they're definitely not for the colour shy- but they are such a fun way of adding colour to an outfit! If you're new to wearing neon, I'd recommend beginning with accessories before dressing in it from head to toe. Perhaps start with a bag, belt, or bracelet, and go from there.

And on that note, I'm going to stop here for today. I hope this post has been helpful and perhaps given you some ideas about which colours to add to your wardrobes this season.

I'm planning to post some outfit ideas for a variety of colours, shades, and hues in upcoming posts, to show you how you could wear colour, and how I would personally wear them.

If you like to read my previous two posts about How to Wear Colour, you can see Where to Start here, and How to Build Up Your Colour Confidence here.

If there's anything you like me to focus on in regards to wearing colour, please feel free to leave me a message below, or get in touch with me via email at polkaspotsandfreckledots@gmail.com.