Purr, Purr, Purr

January... another month, another year, a time for fresh starts... and the month when most of us have to really watch the pennies after all that Christmas (over) spending. January has rarely been a month for adding new clothes to my wardrobe, but thankfully, I'm all about wearing my clothes more than once (hell, sometimes hundreds of times), and like to show my old favourites some love every now and then.

When I put my 'favourite outfits of 2013' post together a few days ago, I came across a few photos of myself in my coral AX Paris cat print dress, and realised I hadn't worn it since the beginning of last year. So, yesterday, I retrieved it from the depths of Narnia, and wore it when I popped in to town with my Mum.

I'm sorry about the quality of these photos. We've had torrential rain and gales for weeks now, which have made taking photos outdoors near impossible. I gave these ones a shot indoors at 6pm when it was pitch black, so I'm aware they're not the most flattering. The camera always captures my freckles oddly indoors, making it look like I've caked my face with dark foundation in patches. I haven't.

I adore this dress; it's so colourful and quirky- and very me! It's a sleeveless prom dress, with a cat print all over it, and cost me the astronomical price of £6.19 on sale last year! Bloody money-grabbers! 

I'm kidding, of course. It was a fantastic bargain, and probably the least inexpensive dress I've ever bought. Sadly it's no longer available, but if you come across one on eBay or a blog sale etc, be sure to snap it up!

On previous occasions, I dressed this dress with other colourful pieces, but this time I made it pop with lots of black. (Which matched the little bow-ties of the cats). It was a quite simple outfit, really. I wore opaque tights; a super soft cardigan with gold buttons; my black studded ankle boots; and a heart-shaped quilted chain bag. I then complimented it with a short colourful statement necklace, that Dani kindly sent me when I won her giveaway before Christmas. (I love it, thanks, Dani!!) 

Outfit Details

Dress-AX Paris Curve // Tights-Evans // Cardigan-TU at Sainsburys // 

Boots-Catwalk Collection at Simply Be // Bag-Topshop (similar) // Necklace-Gift

I got more than a little wind-swept popping in to a couple of shops in this outfit, (what's up with this crazy weather in England right now??) and had to hold down the skirt, but thankfully I avoided flashing anyone, and felt really good dressed like this! A sales assistant in Morrisons complimented the dress, and I came home from town with this bag that I've wanted since last summer, so it was a successful little trip, I'd say. I'd only gone in to pay a bill!

I'll be blogging about the bag along with a couple of other little sale purchases in a few days, so be sure to stop by again soon!

Do you find yourself cutting back on frivolous shopping in January, and try to make the most of what you already have?

Five Shades of Purple

It's no secret that my yellow polka dot prom dress from AX Paris is one of my favourite and most worn pieces in my wardrobe. It's one of the best purchases I've ever made, and has already made a few appearances on my blog over the last year. I've worn it many times over this summer and last because I enjoy wearing it, and I love finding new ways to wear it. 

My favourite way to change it up is to try out different colour themes. I've tried it with white, pink, coral, and grey in the past, but had never made an outfit around it using purple, which is easily one of the colour combinations I love best. The idea of creating a yellow and purple outfit around this dress had been brewing in my head for a couple of weeks, and yesterday I finally found the energy to give it a go.

I would have loved to have created a vibrant purple and yellow outfit with every purple piece as bold as the cardigan, but I realised I have a distinct lack of violet clothes and accessories to work with. So, instead, I built up the look using five shades of purple.

I used my purple Dorothy Perkins cardigan which I've had for several years but haven't worn in a while. It's a little boxy on the shoulders as they're ruched, but I adore the colour of it so I don't mind too much. 

The tights are from Evans, and are actually a dark shade of purple, and not black as they appear. This is the first time I've been able to enclose my feet in anything since February! I'm so excited that the pain in my big toes is almost gone after eleven months and they've almost healed, which means I should be back in tights, socks, and shoes by Autumn! Yay!

The skinny belt is lilac and came from ASOS Curve. It's still available on sale here. The necklace is a deep purple, and was given to me by my Mum, although I've no idea of the brand. And I was also wearing my gorgeous frog prince ring by ASOS, which I've shared here many times before. I even went a step further and wore purple eyeshadow.

Outfit Details

Dress- AX Paris // Tights- Evans // Cardigan- Dorothy Perkins // Belt- ASOS Curve //
// Ring- ASOS // Necklace- Gift from my Mum //

I had to get at least one last wear of this dress in before Autumn, and I enjoyed putting this outfit together. I never get bored of wearing this dress, or of experimenting with colour. I definitely need some more purple in my wardrobe, though, and I can't wait to try another colour scheme around this dress!

Oranges and Lemons

Morning guys,

I'm sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since my last outfit of the day post, but I have something resembling one for you today.

I've just returned home from a two week stay with my sister at her home in Portsmouth. I mostly spent the time resting from the sofa or from bed, engrossed with old episodes of The Hairy Bikers (I love them!), and The Vicar of Dibley, but I was able to get out a little here and there.

On Saturday, we popped in to Gunwharf Quays, which is Portsmouth's outlet village. What's lovely about shopping there, apart from the great shops, is that it's situated right on the harbour, so it makes a scenic, relaxing environment to shop in. It's just a couple of miles from my sister's home, or I should say was as my sister and brother in law are moving today; so it was a journey I could physically cope with. We popped in quickly to pick up a couple of gifts; but that morphed in to dawdling along the water front with an ice cream, and somehow resulted in taking a short boat trip around the harbour.

We had no interest in seeing the Navy vessels or various other boats and ships dotted around the small bit of coast line; we both just liked the idea of being out on the sea in the scorching sunshine. It was a gorgeous hot day. I decided to push my pain tolerance to the limit to go on it, although I hadn't considered the fact the boat would have stairs. Somehow I managed it, and I enjoyed being out on the water with the sun on my skin. I couldn't move for twelve hours when I got home, but it was worth the pain.

So, what did I wear?

I wore my sunshine yellow polka dot dress from AX Paris which you've seen a couple of times over the last year. It's one of my favourite dresses, and one I always have the urge to wear when the sun is shining. The colour is so uplifting! This was actually the first time I've worn it out in public, and probably the only time I've worn bright yellow in public without feeling self-conscious! I think that just shows how far I've come along the road to self-acceptance.

I usually wear this dress with white and turquoise pieces, but on this occasion I had the urge to try it with coral... and I really liked the result! The colour combination is so pretty. 

I'm sorry I haven't got any full-length outfit photos to share with you. I wasn't happy with any of them- a wind-swept Louise with no make up and a swollen irritated eye is not a pretty sight! I didn't think it was far to subject you to that!

The shrug came from Lovedrobe last summer, which I love for the scalloped edging. I have this shrug in black and off-white, too, and they're perfect summer cardigans. I wish they'd came in other colours, too.

The cropped leggings are ruched at the sides, and came from New Look about two years ago. They're great for wearing under summer frocks for that extra bit of comfort and reassurance, if, like me, you're not comfortable with completely exposing your legs.

I'm still unable to wear any footwear other than flip flops at the moment, so I was wearing my battered pink Havaianas. Hopefully I'll be back in pretty shoes by Autumn.

 The saddle bag was from Accessorize, which I'm afraid is another old piece;  it's without a doubt one of my best summer day bags. 

I bought the skunk cameo necklace from Life's Big Canvas earlier this year (and extended the chain with some ribbon), and the daisy studs are by River Island which I recently picked up for the purse-friendly sum of two pounds.

I love this little skunk!

Don't you think the daisies are just the friendliest flower?

Oh, and I had a couple of coats of Barry M's Gelly Paint in Mango on my nails to complete the fiery look.

Outfit Details

Dress-AX Paris // Leggings-New Look (size 16 on eBay here) // Shrug- Lovedrobe // 
Saddle Bag-Accessorize // Necklace-Life's Big Canvas // Earrings-River Island // 
Flip Flops-Havaianas // Glasses- Roxy // Nail Polish-Barry M Gelly in Mango

Who knew an industrial English harbour could look so pretty?

If you're ever along the south coast of England, and are looking for somewhere lovely to shop, grab a drink, or eat out, make sure you check out Gunwharf Quays. I personally recommend you do!

Polka Dots and Flamingos

I go through phases of wearing a particular piece of clothing on a regular basis, and at the moment that's my blue AX Paris polka dot dress. I love everything about it; the shape, the fit, the colour, the length, and the design. It has everything I love in a dress, and I feel great when I'm wearing it- so it's pretty much perfect.

On Tuesday, the sun was shining for the first time in what felt like a fortnight, and it was reasonably mild outside. I managed a short intermission from confinement which resulted in a purchase of some banana scented Body Shop conditioner that smells amazing! I wore the dress with black leggings and a cardigan, but when I returned home (to my Sister's), the house was so warm I spent the rest of the day with my legs out.

I wore the dress with my cream flamingo print cardigan which I bought from George at Asda last Summer, but hadn't worn. I think I purchased it when the weather was much too hot for long sleeved knitwear, and late in the season when the design had started to look out of place. It still had the tags on and everything when I packed it to take to my sister's. It cost me just £15, and for the price it's a pretty decent cardigan. It's quite thick and warm, and the coral flamingo print is lovely.

I accessorised with my Abilu Creations charm necklace which I bought in Camden several years ago, and clipped my new Fossil View Master charm on to it, which I think goes so well with the other charms. The Abilu charms are red, pink, and silver and include flowers, strawberries, leaves, a guitar, shoes, a key, a poodle... and lots of other quirky little things. Their jewellery is all handmade, and many contain vintage charms, and I love 'em. They used to only be accessible for me on trips in to London, but they now have a website, so you can find them online here.

And I finished with a couple of faux pearl Matalan bracelets, and my rose Cath Kidston bracelet which I'm kinda obsessed with.

Outfit Details

Dress-AX Paris // Cardigan-George at Asda // Necklace-Abilu Creations // View Master Charm-Fossil // Pearl bracelets (part of a set)-Matalan // Rose bracelet-Cath Kidston //

I was hoping to be able to bring you more outfit posts whilst I've been staying with my sister, but unfortunately, I had surgery on one of my big toes on Wednesday, and the recovery is going to be a little tougher than I was anticipating. The hospital appointment was tough on my back, and I'm advised to keep off my feet with my foot elevated as much as possible over the next week, which means bed rest for me. The pain is pretty much making me immobile, anyway, but I've got a big stack of magazines to read, and lots of ideas planned for the blog to keep me occupied!

I'm not allowed to get my foot wet, but if I manage to wash my hair (somehow), I'll at least attempt to dress and shoot a few photos, but we'll see.

I hope you all have a great weekend. What have you all got planned?

Dressed Up To The Nine(lives)s

Morning guys,

Last week, the lovely Rachel of A Dress is For Life and I were chatting on Twitter, and we realised we both own the same cat print dress from AX Paris. This isn't really surprising as she and I both share a similar style; she has an even better dress collection than I do! 

Rachel invited me to join her for a little blog post duet, and I was more than happy to oblige. We've both dressed an outfit around our cat print dresses and created separate blog posts to show you how we've styled our frocks. A little post we're calling 'Dressed Up to the Nine(lives)s.' One dress, two different looks, and twice as much cattitude!

Read on to see how I wore the dress this week...

(Sorry about the quality of the outfit photos; the timer on my camera is awful!)

I had a few outfit ideas to mind before I dressed for this challenge, but when I opened my wardrobe doors I had the urge to style the dress with shades of purple, so that's what I did.

I wore it with a pair of opaque berry tights, and my purple round neck Matalan cardigan. I bought this cardigan back in the early Autumn, along with three others in different colours, and they're some of the best cardigans I've ever owned. They're super soft and warm, have beautiful mother of pearl buttons on them, and came in the most striking colours. I haven't worn this purple one much, yet, but I like how well it goes with the coral dress, and will have to try this colour combination again.

My accessories were simple, and a little bit dull. I felt I was lacking the right pieces for the look I wanted to create. I just added a chunky purple beaded necklace, which I think my mother gave me at some point; added two enamel bangles to my wrist, and pinned the purple and pink brooch on to the cardigan. These three pieces were acquired during two separate visits to Camden.

I would have liked to have added a belt to break up the colour of the dress a little, but I don't own one in a suitable colour. I'll have to make it my mission to add a couple of belts in purples, corals, and pinks in to my collection.

If the outfit wasn't colourful enough, I painted my nails mint green because I think the colour goes perfectly with coral. I used a Barry M nail paint in Mint Green, and have three coats on my nails here.

Outfit Details

Dress- AX Paris // Cardigan- Matalan // Tights- Evans // Necklace- a gift from my Mum // 

Brooch- Camden Lock Market // Bangles- Camden Lock Market // 

Nail Polish- Barry M Mint Green //

I can't express just how much I adore this dress, and what a great buy it was. I've so many other outfit ideas planned for it in my head! The dress is still on sale for just £7.99 over on the AX Paris website, and if you sign up as a new customer, you'll get 20% off your first order, so take advantage of it! I bought the dress for just £6.39 this way!

 Make sure you pop on over to Rachel's blog, A Dress is For Life, to see how she's styled her dress. I'm personally looking forward to seeing how she's dressed it, as she has fantastic style. If you love dresses and amazing shoes, you'll love her blog, so give her a follow while you're there, as well!

I've featured this dress in an OOTD post once before, which you can see here if you'd like to see a third way to wear it.

Thanks for reading,

This kitten has a lion's roar

Morning guys,

I've got a rare outfit post to share with you today!

I've been dying to share this dress with you all since it came through the letter box a week ago, but I've not been feeling brilliant lately. I've barely been able to get out of bed in ten days, and have mostly been living in pyjamas. I can hear those little violins serenading my sob story now...

I forced myself to get dressed on Saturday for the sake of my sanity, and quickly snapped a few photos of the outfit before crawling back in to bed in it.

I give you my new cat print dress...

This gorgeous coral-coloured, cat-printed dress came from AX Paris' Curve range, and I had been admiring it from a far ever since it landed on their website last summer. For what ever reason, I never managed to purchase it sooner, even when it went on sale, and even when it was eventually sliced down to the ridiculously pocket-friendly price of £7.99! Financially, it was never a good time.

I was disappointed I'd missed out when it eventually disappeared from the website, but last week I noticed it had returned in several sizes, and was still listed for £7.99! Thankfully, I'd just sold a few things on eBay, so I treated myself to it. Although, not before I'd created a new account to get the 20% off my first order, which brought the frock down to just £6.39, instead of £40.00! Now that is what I call a bargain! Get in there, ladies!

On AX Paris' website, the dress was shown as quite a short frock. I'm not confident with showing much thigh, but I ordered it anyway and hoped it would be a little longer- thankfully, it was! The dress sits just below my knees, which is the perfect length for me. (I'm 5'6'' FYI). It's also a lined dress, and good quality for a polyester number.

I sized up, as I always do with dresses with fitted waists, and the fit is perfect everywhere. It's almost like this dress was made for me. There's only a little fabric spare at the arms, the waist is fitted without being restrictive, and there's plenty of room for the girls with room to spare. If you're busty, you shouldn't have a problem fitting in to this dress. I'd advise you all to size up once, though, if possible.

I'm a sucker for prints, especially ones with quirky animal designs, as I'm sure you can tell, but until now I didn't have any cat motifs in my collection. This dress has a lovely cat print of elegant white kitties, some accessorised with complementing black bows around their necks. I think the print is really cute, without being tacky or too child like, and I'm pleased I got to add it to my collection.

So, all in all, I adore this dress! I'm in love with the fit, I'm in love with the shape. I'm in love with the cheerful coral colour, and the sweet kitty cat print. And I am most definitely in love with the price. It was such a brilliant bargain buy, and I only wish it came in other colours so I could buy them, too. I wonder if this dress would dye well?

I have so many different outfit ideas for this dress; mostly involving pastel colours and white, but I thought it was perhaps a little early in the year to dress it in such a way. Here I was being a bit lazy and boring, and just wore it with comfortable black New Look leggings, and my coral Lovedrobe shrug.

I accessorized with my Cath Kidston rose bracelet and heart friendship bracelet again, and dug out an old brooch to wear on the shrug. I bought the brooch in Camden Lock Market several years ago, from a stall selling hundreds of beautiful vintage brooches. I have no idea if this one really is vintage, but I don't mind. I think it's really pretty old or new. Sadly it's lost a gem, though, and I really should try to repair it.

I was also wearing purple eyeshadow and lilac nail polish to compliment the coral.

Outfit Details

Dress- AX Paris // Leggings- New Look // Shrug- Lovedrobe via New Look Inspire // 
Rose bracelet- Cath Kidston // Heart bracelet- A gift from a friend // Brooch- Camden Lock Market

The dress is currently available in UK sizes 16, 18, 20 and 22, and you can find it here. If dresses and quirky patterns are your thing, this is probably the dress for you! Trust me, you won't regret the purchase!

Thanks for reading,

Grab a Bargain: Coral Cat Print Skater Dress

Morning folks,

I discovered a fabulous coral skater dress with the most amazing cat print I just had to share with all you plus size ladies.

I first spotted this particular dress on the AX Paris Summer listings in 2012. It was love at first sight but I never got around to buying it. Then it went in to the sale at the end of the Summer at the ridiculously low price of £7.99 but still I missed out on it.

You can imagine my delight when I discovered the dress has re appeared on AX Paris's website earlier this week, and was not only available in my size, but it was also still retailing at £7.99! This dress was originally £40.00, and it's now 80% off that RRP!

 I was unable to stop myself from making a cheeky purchase, even though I'm strapped for cash. I couldn't resist. Do you lovely ladies know that new accounts get twenty percent off their first order? I quickly created a new one with another of my email addresses and snapped the dress up for £6.39!! Six pounds and thirty nine pence! Now if that isn't a bargain, I don't know what is! 

I only ordered the dress on Thursday night so I haven't received the dress nor do I know if it's going to fit, suit me, or be worth the purchase, but there's only one way to find out, girls! What are you waiting for? Go snap one up! They currently have sizes 16-22 available, UK delivery is reasonably priced, and I believe they deliver worldwide!

I'll let you know what the dress is really like when I get my hands on it!

Have you treated yourself to this dress lately, or do you think you will now?

Thanks for reading,