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Saturday, 16 March 2013

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,
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Wednesday, 25 July 2012

It's Summer Outside!

Sorry for the lack of outfit posts these last few days. It's been so hot here in England this week (here in the South it's been a scorching 30 degrees), and all I've wanted to do is lie under my fan and not move until it cools down again. It's either that or take up residence in the shower and send out change of address cards.

Being extrememly pale (and getting paler by the day), and quite warm-blooded, I've never been one to cope well in the heat, but I'm so acclimitized to life indoors now that I could barely breathe through the humidity when I took a quick trip to the shop yesterday. In a car.  Half a mile down the road.

I think this heat is only pleasant if you're on holiday, and/or have access to a pool, the sea, or air conditioning. Otherwise the result isn't pretty! Hence the lack of OOTD posts. I've just been lounging around in sun dresses spraying myself with Magicool and adding lots of ice to my drinks.






My hair was still damp from the shower, and pinned back with a couple of Cath Kidston hair slides to hide the kinks of natural dried hair.  Sorry for the pasty face; it was far too hot to bother putting make up on!





The nail polish is actually more of a cornflower/violet blue. The camera hasn't picked up the right shade.






Dress: New Look
Cardigan: Lovedrobe @ New Look
Bangles: New Look (I think; I've had them for years)
Belt: Dorothy Perkins
Nail Polish: Bourjois So Laque! Ultra Shine in Bleu Fabuleux


I don't like wearing many accessories when it's as hot as it is at the moment, but I added the belt and cardigan for the photos to make the outfit a little more interesting and to hide my arms. This is how I would wear this dress if I was going outside. I won't lie; I have just been lying around in the dress with the bangles on.

The dress was an impulsive sale bargain buy which I snapped up for about £7-8 last Summer. I tend to wear it lounging around the house on very hot days like today as it's light and airy. I've had the bangles for many years, but still like wearing them each Summer.

I really wish I was lounging on a beach right now, or more accurately, body-boarding in the sea with the sun on my skin.

Although, as heavenly as lying on a beach in the heat sounds, I heard a lady died yesterday after a landslide brought tons of rocky cliff down; which was believed to be due to months of heavy rain, or so the news report said. It's so sad that such a blissful trip to the seaside could end so tragically. May she rest in peace.

I guess we all think we're indestructable. We never think our time may be cut short, or harm will ever come to us or our friends and family, but it can. Bad things really do happen when we least expect them and in the unlikeliest of situations. I know this is a cliche, but we all need to live each day to the full, do the things we want to do, and be around people who make us happy. It's taken twenty-seven years and a back injury for me to figure that out, but it really is true...

Makes you think, huh?

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Sunday, 22 July 2012

The world passes by in my summer

What's a girl to do when Summer finally decides to make a comeback?

Wear yellow, that's what!









When I woke up, drew back the curtains and saw that it was such a gorgeous, hot sunny day, I knew I had to take the opportunity to wear this yellow dress again.

I really couldn't love this dress more. The dress is the perfect combination of polka dots and colour; a very Louise friendly combination! The skirt is lined and gorgeously full, and the fabric is so soft and comfortable to wear. It's currently in the AX Paris sale, along with the same dress in navy. Snatch one up! I couldn't recommend them more!

I started off wearing a white cropped cardigan over the dress, but I soon realised it was far too hot to cover up. I'm wearing white cropped leggings under the dress, and have accessorized simply with a turquoise belt, bangle, and a toucan necklace.










Dress: AX Paris
Leggings: New Look
Necklace: Accessorize
Belt: Dorothy Perkins
Bangle: Topshop
Nail Polish: Barry M Racing Green

I love wearing yellow. I'd wear it all year round if I could, but it generally only works on me when the sun is shining, so I'm going to have to give the colour plenty of wear before Autumn.

I ordered the yellow AX Paris bird print zip front dress last week, so hopefully it'll be another sunny piece to add to the summer rotation.

Do you wear yellow when the sun is shining?



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Thursday, 19 July 2012

Not So Mellow Yellow

I'm out of the doldrums; out of the pyjamas, and back in to some proper clothes today.  Service resumed as normal... well, as normal as Louise Land can be!

I decided to wear one of my favourite dresses today. I feel like I've been neglecting it this summer (if this season's wash out can be called that), and that's really not on!  This dress got taken on many an adventure around New York city last summer from the top of the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty to a crazy ride around Midtown on a rickshaw at 11pm in the rain. I wore it constantly from May until the chill of Autumn set in. So, it's got quite a bit of sentimental value to me now.








This dress is one of my favourite pieces of clothing; not only from my current wardrobe, but out of everything I've ever owned. I only tried it on out of curiosity when I came across it while shopping early last summer. I was surprised by how good I felt in it; how well the shape of the dress fit me. I happily handed my money over to the cashier, and I haven't looked back since.

It was refreshing to find a thick cotton dress with a more unusual print. I'm tired of seeing so much jersey and polyester, and although I love ditsy florals and butterfly prints, I am a little bored of always coming across them. This dress is so different... Yes, it's still a bird print, but it's not a typical swallow print... It's thick, instead of thin and see through. It's dark, instead of light and fresh and summery. It's also effortlessly comfortable and breathable in the heat. It has a frill along the collar, and another along the bottom. The waist is elasticated, but not in a noticeable way that causes me to constantly pull at it like so many other elasticated waists do. To sum up, this is perfection in dress form!

I've dressed it with a green keeper belt (on the waist... well, kinda); stacked up lots of Indian bangles with a couple of bracelets; added a silver and turquoise ring; and added a yellow cropped cardigan. I'm wearing this cardigan for the first time, but it's my second of the same one. I wore the other one so much it now has that horrible dark tinge from too many washes. These cardigans are perfect... they cover enough of the arm, and aren't too stifling on hot days. I have them in seven colours!





My physiotherapist is encouraging me to sit up for five or ten minutes at a time every hour or so, so I made a conscious effort and decided to play with some make up while doing so. The sun was shining, so I decided to try out the yellow shadows I bought from Inglot last summer. I can't recommend this brand more. The eye shadows are vibrant, long lasting, and give even coverage.

 I used a darker yellow shade across each lid, a lighter shade to the inner corners, and a shimmery pale gold blended where the colours met. I then lined the lower outer lash lines with a turquoise Bourjois eye pencil. I also tried out the Avon mascara which came with Marie Claire Magazine. I did curl my eyelashes first, but it was very easy to apply, didn't clump, and nicely separated and curled the lashes!

Please ignore the powdery finish to my nose; I used a Benefit foundation which doesn't work well with the pores on my nose. I really need to find myself a new liquid foundation at some point.






What do you think? Would you wear yellow eye shadow? And would you think of teaming yellow and blue together?





This is an example of the print of the dress. There are lots of different birds and flowers in different colours all over the black fabric.





There's quite a lot of green to the pattern of the dress, so I picked it out and accessorised with green accessories. This is a double keeper belt from Dorothy Perkins.






I felt like stacking lots of bracelets on my arms today, so I dug out some of the Indian bracelets I bought on holiday in France at least five or six years ago and added them to a couple of high street bracelets on my wrists.

I went on several holidays with my family to the mid-west coast of France in my early twenties. We'd usually wander around the market in La Palmyre at some point, and I remember coming back with about thirty of these bangles in one go- mostly in green and turquoise. I haven't worn them in so long, but I've been feeling so nostalgic for those holidays lately, so my mind went to them.











I'm still loving this nail polish... please excuse the chipped index finger. The ring is a little too big but I think it's pretty.




Dress: Dorothy Perkins
Belt: Dorothy Perkins
Cardigan: New Look
Indian bangles: From a market in France
Teal flower bracelet: New Look
Teal skinny beaded bracelet: Dorothy Perkins (part of a set)
Gem stone bracelet: Dorothy Perkins
Ring: Evans
Nail Polish: Barry M Racing Green
Eyeshadows: Inglot
Eyeliner: Bourjois
Freckles: Models own


Do you have memories attached to your clothes and accessories? Do you have a favourite item of clothing?

I'm trying to decide whether to buy the yellow bird printed zip front dress from AX Paris, as it's in the sale now and I LOVE the navy fish print one I already own. Decisions, decisions!
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Thursday, 7 June 2012

"What's with all the polka dots?"

Or so my younger Sister asked when I showed her my new navy dress from AX Paris earlier this afternoon. My reply? "You know me; I like polka dots!" She followed the remark with a compliment, so I'll ignore her amusement at my steadily growing collection of dotty dresses.


I originally planned to purchase this dress in yellow, but after several hours of uncertainty before I clicked the check-out button, I decided to be practical and buy the dress I could wear all year round, and the one that would probably stay fashionable for many years to come (so I got the navy). My practical head doesn't show itself all that often, but not knowing when I'll next be fit to work I need to act like a boring grown-up and find a few versatile pieces.

Well, all that decision-making time was wasted. I fell in love with the shape and style of this dress immediately, and quickly hopped back online to make the yellow dress mine, too. Oh well...


This dress is absolutely beautiful in every way. The fabric is super soft (100% cotton); which makes a change from all the nasty static polyester that I keep coming across, and it's lined, too! I sized up because of the fitted waist-band to give myself a bit of room to move and breathe. It'll need a couple of alterations on top, but I love the fit. It's comfortable; there's nothing I hate more than tugging at my clothes all day because I feel uncomfortable from the tight-fit. It's also a good length for me; it pretty much falls right on the knee on me (I think I'm about 5'6").

I'd never ordered from AX Paris before but I was impressed with the dress and with the delivery. I ordered in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and it was delivered early today! I didn't even select next day delivery so I'm very impressed. The dress was a little creased in the packaging, but I guess that's often the case with stored clothing.


It has a lovely full skirt...



And a knee length navy lining...


Outtakes...




I accessorised with a pair of tan, low-wedge sandals I picked up last year. I realised I haven't even worn them yet; the labels are still on the bottom. They're really comfy, though, so will have to give them some attention this summer. I'm also wearing a camel coloured keeper belt, (though it appears tan in these photos), a trio of wooden bangles I've owned for years, a pair of purple rose earrings, and a floral beaded necklace.

I'm also wearing a yellow cardigan, but it's a little big so I took it off to show the dress to you. I'll apologise for the quality of these photos; they weren't coming out so well. I had to alter a few with filters to make them sharable.

Dress: AX Paris
Shoes: Dorothy Perkins
Belt: Dorothy Perkins
Bangles: New Look
Necklace: New Look
Earrings (not pictured): Accessorize
Nail Polish: Barry M

Have you ordered from AX Paris before? What did you think?



P.S. The palm-print dress my parents ordered for my birthday came today, and it's gorgeous. I'll be featuring it in an OOTD in a few weeks time!
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