Matalan Fruity Novelty Clutch Bags

I've added three more novelty bags to my collection this week.  I know, I know; I already have enough of them for an episode of hoarders, but I just couldn't help myself. 

They were on promo, though, and I spent less than £20 on all three! Want to know how, and where from? Keep reading!

These fruit-shaped clutches are all from Matalan. At only £8 each, they are so purse-friendly, but the best part is, they're also currently on 3 for 2! All three bags, plus delivery, came to a few pennies shy of £20! Bargain! The promo is running until the 2nd of June, so there are only a few days left to snag a bargain or three. If you're coveting more than one of these clutch bags, now is the time to pounce!

My favourite of the three is the watermelon clutch. I've wanted a watermelon bag for years, and I'm so glad I held off until now. This one is exactly what I've been looking for. The colours are bold (but lighter than my photos show), the design is so quirky, the faux leather is as soft as butter, and it's surprisingly roomy, too. I even got complimented on it the other day when I took it with me to the supermarket.

The lemon wedge is essentially the same design as the watermelon, and it shares the same great features. It's got plenty of room for the essentials, it's well made, the fabric is soft... The strap is even big enough for chubby wrists. It's so bright and cheerful, but more of a soft lemon-yellow than my photos show- my camera doesn't seem to like yellow, especially on grey days.

The other lemon clutch is a little smaller than the other two, and it's also quite flat, like New Look's novelty clutch bags. It has just enough room for a few essentials, but you'll never fit the kitchen sink in this one. I can fit my phone, a slim purse, and my keys inside with a little room to spare. The quality isn't as good as the other two clutches, but for £8 I really can't complain. It's well made and I think it's cute.

I have to say, I'm so impressed with the quality of these Matalan bags, especially for the price. In my opinion, the quality is higher than that of New Look's (which I also like), and they're £5 cheaper, too! These clutches are my very first Matalan bags, and I'm so pleased with them, I just might have to go back for more. I'd love to get my hands on the ice cream cone!

Have you got any of Matalan's new novelty clutch bags yet?

You might also like:

My novelty bag collection.
My novelty Christmas bags.
My New Look novelty clutch bags.

Polka Dots and Vampire Teeth

If you can believe your eyes, I have an outfit post for you today! I'm on a roll at the minute; a slowly moving one, but a roll just the same! I actually have a few more outfits snapped and ready to show you over the next few weeks! I'm spacing them out to make them last, since I never know when I'll have the strength to take some more, or even get out of my PJs long enough to wear outfits worth snapping.

This is an outfit I threw together a few weeks ago while I was waiting on a delivery. I thought it was best I didn't scare the courier by opening the door in my PJs! 

It was about 9am when I took these photos, and I'd only had about two hours sleep, so I look rough as hell in them- and felt it, too. I just had to take advantage of the bright sunny morning, though, and got myself in the garden with my camera while I listened out for the door.

The chiffon asymmetric dress I'm wearing is an old one from Matalan, but it's one of my favourites. I always feel great in it, so I return to it time and time again, as I do with almost all of my favourite clothes. I'll never be one of those girls who won't wear anything twice. One: I can't afford to live like that, and two: even if I could I wouldn't; I get too attached to my favourite clothes, and enjoy wearing them regularly! Plus I live in the real world, where it's normal to wear clothes and accessories again and again, until they fall apart. There's no shame in it!

This outfit, apart from the bag, is actually made up entirely of old pieces. I didn't realise it at the time; I was just focused on selecting pieces to wear that I thought would work with this amazing novelty clutch bag. It's a simple look, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Excuse the nails; I was half way through painting them when I fell asleep!

The best part of the outfit is definitely the amazing vampire lips clutch bag, which I'm pleased to say is a current line. It's one of ASOS's novelty Halloween pieces, and it's without a doubt the best novelty bag I've ever seen (or owned)! The novelty bag trend has become so popular over the last few months, and there are so many great bags to choose from, but what could be better than a lip-shaped clutch with vampire teeth?? Nothing!

It was one of those bags that had me squealing at my laptop screen and there was no question about it, I had to have it. For £20, it's so well priced, and the quality is surprisingly good for an inexpensive high-street clutch. It's well made and sturdy, and the design is just fantastic! There's also a surprising amount of room in it for the essentials. I can't afford a Lulu Guinness clutch, so this ASOS novelty is the next best thing!

If you want to embrace a little Halloween spirit but don't fancy dressing up this year, the vampire lips clutch is the perfect accessory for adding a little fright-night fun to your outfit. It makes a statement on it's own without needing the cape and fangs to go with it! It' definitely grabs people's attention, and it's a great conversation starter, too!

Looking back on these photos, the only thing I think the outfit was missing was a belt or a statement necklace. I forgot to add one or the other at the time, but two hours sleep will do that to you! 

I'm also not quite sure why my hair looks so dark in these photos; it's still the same bright red it's always been since I began this blog! I think my camera's just shit! 

Outfit Details

Dress- Matalan // Cardigan- TU at Sainsburys // Tights- Evans // 

Shoes- New Look // Brooch- Cath Kidston // Bag- ASOS // Glasses- Roxy

How would you style the vampire lips clutch bag?

Thanks for reading!

Cobalt Blue and Pearls

Hey guys,

I hope you all had a great Halloween! What did you all get up to?

I did little more than carve a pumpkin and watch a couple of films (Hocus Pocus and Labyrinth have to be watched each year!). I've never really celebrated Halloween with proper dedication; the last time I went trick or treating, I was eleven, and the last Halloween party I went to was back in Brownies. Since then, I've just acknowledged the day with jack o' lanterns and movies. I wish we Brits marked All Hallows Eve the way you Americans do, as the festivities look amazing, but it's just not a huge deal over here. We market it more for kids. Saying that, I am content with my little traditions, and I had fun carving the pumpkin!

Moving on from Halloween, I've got a quick outfit to share with you today, which I wore a couple of weeks ago...

Firstly, I'm sorry for the quality of the photos. It was late in the afternoon when I snapped them, and it was also beginning to rain. But still, they're better than any I try to take indoors! (Which I'm trying to avoid doing because they're always terrible!)

A few months back during the summer, I won a New Look gift card from Becky and Betty's joint blog giveaway and this is one of the dresses I bought with it. I was drawn to the beautiful cobalt, because it's one of my favourite colours. Only, I completely forgot I had it and only rediscovered it the other week, hidden between a couple of other frocks. My wardrobe is just so crammed full of clothes now.

So of course, I made up for lost time and wore it. I really like this dress, but it's made from very thin fabric and doesn't conceal much- even though it's lined. You can see the shadow of my leggings in the photo, so perhaps I need to try it again with a slip underneath to make it a little more forgiving. It's very comfortable, though, and has a stretchy waist and pockets at the hips! Pockets! I can't believe I didn't know it had pockets until I took these photos! I love pockets! It also has pretty crochet detail to the neckline and hem.

I wore it with black leggings, and a blue shrug I bought on sale at M&Co for a few quid. I usually wear a clashing colour, but nothing in my wardrobe wanted to work with this dress, so cobalt it was. The longer sleeves are ideal for this time of year and it's really cosy. I also wore my studded navy slippers, and some pearl necklaces and bracelets.

These aren't great photos, but you can see the lace detailing, and a close up of the two necklaces I was wearing. (Apologies for the boobs!) I still adore the double cameo necklace that I won in Rachel's blog giveaway. I've barely taken it off all year!

Outfit Details

Dress-New Look Inspire // Shrug-M&Co // Leggings-New Look Inspire // Slippers-New Look // 

Pearl Bracelets-Matalan // Pearl Necklace-Matalan // Pearl and Cameo Duo Necklace-Rachel's Giveaway

I hope you all have a great Friday. I'm hoping to make it to our local bonfire and fireworks display tonight; let's see if I come back with any decent photos to share!

Just a Dash of Hound

Hey guys,

I've got an outfit post for you today.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, last Sunday marked the anniversary of the day I first woke up in pain and was aware something wasn't quite right with my back. (I still don't know when I actually did the damage to it, but I think it started a few weeks earlier). Anyway, I didn't actually manage to take a photo of myself on the day, but this outfit was worn the afternoon before, which I'm counting as a record of the two year milestone.

I bought this lovely Peter Pan dress from Rachel's blog sale a month or two ago. When I saw it up for grabs, I just had to have it because of the amazing print. It has little daschund dogs all over it! I love daschunds, but didn't have a single dog-print anything in my wardrobe, so it had to be mine. It was originally from Primark, and it's only a polyester number, but I love it! I've not actually stepped foot in Primark in two or three years, so buying this dress was a real novelty. Thanks, Rachel!

I kept this look very simple with black leggings, black studded slippers, and a bold coral coloured cardigan from Matalan. I have this cardigan in four colours, and they're the softest things ever!

Isn't the print adorable?

I really love the beautiful Mother-of-Pearl buttons these cardigans have.

These are the mismatched accessories I was wearing. I wore my new strawberry brooch and my cute fox pin, both from Cath Kidston (where else!?), and a jewel coloured ring from Evans.

Outfit Details

Dress-Primark // Leggings-New Look // Slippers-New Look // Cardigan-Matalan // Fox Pin-Cath Kidston // Strawberry Brooch-Cath Kidston // Ring-Evans //

Little Red Dress

Hey guys,

I've been meaning to show you this dress since I bought it earlier in the summer; I've even taken outfit photos of it a couple of times, but I wasn't happy with the quality of the photos either time, so I didn't share them. And since most of July and August had been spent living in my pyjamas trying to deal with the aftermath of physiotherapy sessions, the dress has been waiting patiently to be worn, along with a few others that I've yet to share here. 

I thought it was about time I gave this particular dress it's blog debut...

Introducing my little red dress! I bought it from Dorothy Perkins a few months ago, after deciding I needed some more red in my wardrobe. I considered it a good piece to start with. It was originally just £16, which is nothing for a cute cotton dress, but I think I may have paid as little as £12 for it with discount codes. It was a total steal! Dorothy Perkins have had such a great selection of low priced dresses this year, and it's been refreshing to fill a few gaps in my wardrobe without spending a fortune. I've picked up several great casual frocks and I'm so pleased with them.

The fabric is a good quality, heavy cotton, making it an ideal piece for wearing all year round. The waist is softly fitted, meaning it has decent stretch to it but still stays nicely in place, and it's also embellished with a matching red bow. It's sleeveless, has thick shoulder straps, and a scoop neckline. It's a lovely casual dress, but I think it could also be dressed up for something a little more formal.

Unfortunately, this dress is almost sold out online in all the different colour ways it came in, although they do have some smaller sizes left. It's worth checking in store, though, as you might still be able to find one in your size.

I wore the dress with black Evans tights, my black Lovedrobe shrug, New Look studded slippers, a double cameo necklace from Rachel's giveaway, and an assortment of pearl and beaded bracelets. Oh, and dark green nails.

These are my lovely wide fit studded slippers which I bought last Autumn from New Look in black and navy. I've had a few issues with my toes leading back to September last year, and I've barely been able to wear shoes since... I don't think I've even worn these outside. Now my toes are almost healed, I'm looking forward to breaking these in, and giving them lots of wear this Autumn. This OOTD was the first time shoes have touched my feet since February. Oh, how I missed shoes!

I wore these bracelets shared between both wrists. The pearl ones to the left are by Matalan; the silver and black bracelets were a gift from my best friend; the other black beaded bracelets were part of a set from Dorothy Perkins; and the remaining pearl bracelet with the pink charm was from Rachel's blog giveaway.

Outfit Details

Dress- Dorothy Perkins // Shrug- Lovedrobe // Tights- Evans // Shoes- New Look //

Necklace- Giveaway // Pearl Bracelet Pair- Matalan // Pearl Bracelet With Charm- Giveaway // 

Black and Silver Bracelets- Gift // Black Beaded Bracelets- Dorothy Perkins //

Love Hearts

Back at the beginning of July, I acquired a few new dresses for my birthday through gifts and birthday money. The dress in today's outfit post was one of the frocks I chose with the money my Grandad had kindly sent me. I've been meaning to feature it in an outfit post ever since, but until Monday, I had yet to wear it due to the heat and the fact I've spent most of the summer in my pyjamas. 

I've been trying my best to dress and get back in to outfit posts over the last few days, and today I have a heart print pinafore dress to introduce to you...

This dress is by Dorothy Perkins, and is the same style as the black bow print pinafore dress I featured here a couple of weeks ago. I coveted this dress for some time online because of the funky heart print design. (You all know how much I love my prints!) Until I purchased it, I didn't have any heart print clothes in my collection, so I knew I needed this dress to fill that gap.

I wasn't disappointed when it finally made it's way in to my hands. It's a beautiful casual dress, made from thick, heavy cotton with a red heart print on a navy background. I was actually surprised to feel such great quality fabric in my hands for an inexpensive dress. It feels as good as some of the luxury organic cotton children's clothes I used to deal with every day at work, clothes that cost a small fortune for such little material. This dress is comfortable to wear. It has a fitted waist, so it defines the waist, but it has stretch to it so it's not too restrictive. It also has thick shoulder straps, and a square neckline, which I personally love. I think it gives a lovely shape. And the best part? It has pockets on the hips, which I just love to bury my hands in! If only more dresses had pockets!

It retails for £18.00, which is really inexpensive, but I purchased it for less with a discount code or two. (DPBDAY gets you 15% off Dorothy Perkins dresses all year round). It was a fantastic bargain, and such a great buy. Unfortunately it's almost sold out online now, but it's worth checking in store to see if you can still find one in your size.

I wore the dress with dark purple tights from Evans, a navy cropped cardigan from New Look, and the jewellery shown above. The acrylic bear is by Maggie Angus, and I picked him up last summer. I love their quirky jewellery. I was wearing a mixture of pearl and beaded bracelets stacked on my wrists from Dorothy Perkins, Matalan, a giveaway win, and gifts from my best friend.

I struggled in vain to take a decent photograph of the pattern, but I'm sure you get the general idea. The navy is much darker, and the red is much deeper; the stereotypical love-heart red.

Outfit Details

// Dress- Dorothy Perkins // Cardigan- New Look // Tights-Evans // Necklace- Maggie Angus // 

// Pearl Bracelets Duo- Matalan // Pearl Bracelet with Charm- Giveaway Win // 

// Black and Silver Bracelets- Gifts From My Best Friend // 

// Black Beaded Bracelets- Dorothy Perkins //

So, all in all, I'm loving my new frock. It's a lovely quirky piece, and it'll be perfect for more casual occasions, such as hospital and Doctor's appointments, and just nipping down to the supermarket. It was a great little purchase, and a fab addition to my wardrobe.

Under the Green Umbrella Trees

Hey there, lovelies,

I've got a quick casual outfit to share with you this morning, which I wore to the hospital to be lectured and patronized by my physiotherapist yesterday morning. I'd go in to what happened, but I'd only start to rant about what she said.

The dress which I am wearing in this post is one of two frocks I purchased last week with a New Look voucher I won from Becky and Betty's joint blog giveaways. It was a lovely surprise to find out I'd won, and I was obviously excited to spend it as it's been a while since I've been able to afford new clothes for myself. So, thank you so much ladies! I purchased a cobalt blue chiffon dress, and this lovely denim number...

This lovely light-wash denim dress is so effortlessly wearable. It is the perfect dress to be worn casually in the day time for running errands, going to hospital appointments, and perhaps doing a spot of shopping. I think it could also work down the pub in the evening, at festivals and concerts, and perhaps even for nights out if the right accessories are used.

I was drawn to the dress online due to the pretty crochet collar detail which is shaped like sunflowers, but I also knew it would be the perfect casual piece to add to my rather dressy wardrobe. I don't have many casual pieces I can just throw on for a hospital appointment or for nipping to the supermarket. This dress certainly solves that problem perfectly.

The dress is made from a decent denim which isn't too heavy or too thin (although my leggings can be seen through the fabric). It'll be ideal for wearing all year round. I originally thought this was a prom dress style, but it actually has a modest asymmetric hem; although I really love that about it. (I'm still loving asymmetric skirts.) I did however, size up as I thought it had a fitted waist, but it turns out it's elasticated so it's rather loose on me- especially around the boobs... (However, this dress should be able to accommodate you ladies with ample chests). I cinched in the waist tightly at the back with the matching denim belt, which solves most of the over-sizing, and a cardigan disguises most of the looseness around the girls. I presume the denim isn't pre-shrunk, so I imagine it'll probably shrink a little in the wash, anyway, as I wear it. I just couldn't be bothered to return and reorder.

I'm smitten with this dress, and I'm so pleased I purchased it. It was a bargain at just £24.99, and I know it will be getting regular wear from now on. My only bug bear about it, is that it creases so easily, but that's a common issue with light-weight denim...

So, yesterday, I wore it with my basic purple Evans leggings, and a scalloped off white shrug by Lovedrobe. I wore my blue Havaianas flip flops as my toes are still recovering from operations and can't be enclosed, and used my pin stripe River Island satchel. I accessorised with a few pieces of jewellery which I'll show you below.

Here you can get a glimpse of the dress not hidden beneath a cardigan.

I love this beautiful neckline.

This is one of my favourite bags from my collection. I find the combination of colours, patterns, and textures interesting and aesthetically pleasing. It came from River Island about a year and a half ago, and it looks great with the dress.

I can't help but smile when I see daisies, and they're scattered all across our lawns now Summer has arrived.

And these are the accessories which I also wore. I won the double cameo necklace and the pearl bracelet with the flower charm from Rachel's blog giveaway a month or so ago, and I've barely taken them off since. I have a soft side for cameos and pearls, and I don't think I could love these two pieces more! I'm particularly crazy about the double necklace.The other two pearl bracelets are by Matalan, and the daisy earrings are a current line from River Island.

Outfit Details

Dress-New Look Inspire // Leggings-Evans // Shrug-Lovedrobe // Flip Flops-Havaianas // 
Satchel-River Island (ebay here)  // Daisy Earrings- River Island // Plain Pearl Bracelets-Matalan // Floral Charm Pearl Bracelet-Won in Rachel's giveaway // 
Cameo Necklace-Won in Rachel's giveaway //

This dress is definitely a winner, and I recommend it to all you denim loving ladies. It's available in sizes 18-28 on the New Look website, and if you're thinking of purchasing one, you should be fine with your normal size. Trust me, ladies, you need this dress. I'm certain you won't regret the purchase!

Do you like denim dresses? How would you style this dress?

I'm personally planning to restyle it with tan and brown accessories, along with a few thin braids in my hair.