It Sounds So Sweet Coming From the Lips of an Angel

Hello there!

Last week I finally got around to taking some photos of myself wearing the lip print skater dress from F&F at Tesco. (I know; don't all faint at once!) The dress is the second of two I purchased from Tesco using the F&F voucher I won in Naomi's giveaway a month or two ago, and, I'm glad I chose it.

The lip print skater dress was an obvious choice for me because I love quirky prints, and I was lured in by the funky red lips on this navy frock. Prints are one of my main weaknesses and I doubt I'll ever grow tired of them. There's something really satisfying about discovering a new print and adding it to my wardrobe of weird and wonderful oddities. Is it sad that I get excited about stuff like that? Probably!

I've also been needing to add some more casual pieces in to my wardrobe, because my wardrobe is lacking in casual clothes. Most of my clothes are quite dressy because I just love to dress up every day instead of saving fabulous clothes for special occasions- life's too short!- but sometimes those clothes just aren't appropriate and I'm left feeling a tad over-dressed and out of place. So, I've been keeping an eye open for casual dresses that I can wear for mundane tasks like supermarket shopping and trips to the doctors, and this dress won me over.

It's a cute casual dress and for £16 I personally think it was a bargain. It's made from light-weight jersey which is perfect for wearing throughout the year. It has short sleeves so it can be worn on it's own with sandals in the summer, and layered up with knitwear and / or a leather biker jacket and ankle boots in the winter. The length of the sleeves make me feel quite broad, so I've broken up the pattern with a cropped cardigan which pacifies my insecurities. 

It has a lot of stretch so there's no need to size up. I originally purchased a size up because I thought the waist was fitted, but it wasn't and the dress swamped me. I reordered my usual size, and to be honest it's still quite loose on me, and I would probably have been better with the size down. As it's a little too big, the waist sits lower than my waist, and the extra material around my boobs settles in to a crease, but it's rare that I get a good fit around them because I'm not very busty. I don't mind the relaxed fit, though, and it's easy enough to cinch in at the waist when I want it to look more fitted.

I dressed mine very simply with a navy cropped cardigan, black opaque tights (navy would look better, but I don't own a pair), black studded slippers, a strawberry pendant necklace, and some black beaded bracelets.

The strawberry necklace is several years old. I think I purchased it from a vintage shop in Camden called Berty and Gerty, or from their stall in the Lock Market.

The black bracelets were part of a set I bought from Dorothy Perkins four or five years ago. The black and silver were both gifts from my best friend a couple of years ago.

And the studded slippers came from New Look's wide-fit selection not quite two years ago.

Outfit Details

♥ Dress- F&F at Tesco 

♥ Cardigan- New Look (similar) 

♥ Slippers- New Look (similar) 

♥ Tights- Evans 

♥ Necklace- Berty and Gerty 

♥ Black Bracelets- Dorothy Perkins 

♥ Black and Silver Bracelets- Gifts From the Bestie

The dress is now on sale for just £8, but is only available in sizes 6-16 online now (here). I think it went up to a size 22, so it would be worth checking your nearest Tesco to see if they have any of the other sizes left. It's well worth a purchase.

Have you bought anything from F&F lately?

P.S. Apologies for the ugly recycling bins in my photos. Our garden is a mess because we've been having asbestos removed and guttering replaced, and the rest of the garden (including my usual spot) gets too much sunshine for photos on very sunny days. You'd think a hundred foot long garden would have some shade, but it gets none!

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!

Accessories and Beauty Haul

A little earlier in the week I shared my recent clothes haul with you guys, and today I've got an accessories and beauty haul for you. I decided to divide my haul up in to a few posts since I've splurged a little (a lot) on myself lately. It would've been a bit overwhelming in one post, but I can't deny it's been lovely to have the freedom to treat myself to a lot all at once without feeling guilty. Hurray for unexpected funds!

I was supposed to schedule this post for yesterday, but I must have gotten too excited at the prospect of hunting for Fall Out Boy tickets first thing Friday morning that I forgot to actually schedule it. I've wanted to see Fall Out Boy play live since about 2005, and I've finally got tickets to see them next March! There are no words to describe just how excited I am! Though I could've done without the two hours of ticket stress it took to get them! I love having things to look forward to, and this one will be something for me to aim for and work towards. I shall get myself there in one piece if I have to crawl! I can't wait! Did anybody else get tickets to see them on their UK tour?

Anyway, enough rambling; this is my haul of random beauties...

So, I made it to Cath Kidston this week. Twice...  On Christmas shopping excursions with the sister. I really shouldn't be allowed near that shop as I just want everything, but I was fairly restrained. At least on the first trip... I bought a basket full of Christmas essentials like cards and gift wrap on the second trip, but to be fair they were all just a £1 or £2 each! And needed.

Ah Cath Kidston accessories! Oh how I love them. I treated myself to these accessories as it's an area I'm lacking in. I bought three brooches and a set of hair clips. 

The polka dot and floral hair clips were £4, the blue tit bird brooch was £5, and the red rose brooch was £6, all bought in store. I picked up the toadstool brooch (isn't it gorgeous?!) from ASOS which was on sale for £4, it's usually £6. I did spot it in store, as well. I adore toadstools, and their new toadstool range is all amazing.

I couldn't leave without this cream rose bracelet, which was £6. I already have it in dark red and I wear it constantly, so I just had to have this one as well.

I got this gorgeous green polka dot purse on sale at Cath Kidston's outlet shop in Bicester Village. I couldn't resist the beautiful emerald green colour, as it's one of my favourite colours, which I can never get enough of. It's beautifully made like everything Cath Kidston tends to be. I just love the quality of CK oil cloth purses, they're so hard wearing and last for years without showing the slightest sign of wear. I've got two other CK purses I've had for four or five years now, and they're still going strong! This one was £12 on sale, and originally would have been £28.

I went in to The Body Shop looking for banana conditioner, which is my new favourite hair product, but they were out of stock. They did have a banana shampoo, though, which I didn't even know existed, so I bought it to try it out. It has the same sweet banana smell that reminds me of those banana yoghurts I used to find it my lunch box at primary school when I was growing up. I can't wait to try it. It was £4.50.

The Models Own nail art pens came from ASOS and were both on sale for just £3 each, down from £6. I bought pastel lilac and pastel blue. I really love the Models Own nail art pens as they're so easy to work with, and I hope to collect the other colours before they sell out.

Some of my first purchases of late were these three beautiful scarves. I had been coveting the polka dot and tartan Accessorize scarves for a month or two, so as soon as I could afford to, I had to pick them both up. I used my sister's student discount, so I at least saved myself a few quid. The polka dot one retails for £19, and the tartan for £17; they're both stunning and wonderfully thick.

The pheasant scarf is from TU at Sainsbury's and I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I mean, how often do you see a scarf with pheasants on it? It's so very English, and since I love our local / national wildlife, I just had to have it. I didn't buy it straight away, but went back for it and as there was a promotion on, I got it for £6 instead of £8. The quality is fantastic, so you guys need to go check it out!

I bought these boots from Simply Be, which are wide fitting ankle boots by Catwalk Collection. I fell in love with them online, but it took me a little time to warm to them in real life. They just weren't as stunning as I had anticipated, and didn't have studs all the way around on both sides, like in the photos online. However, they are great fitting boots and they do look lovely on. I bought the 7 in EEE, but I think the 6 would've been better. They retail for £45, but I found a 20% off discount code which saved me £9. I'm still considering buying them in black and forest green. These ones are 'wine' and are much more burgundy in real life.

And finally, we have the panda print ballerina slippers from Next, which I blogged about last week. They're adorable and only cost the bargain price of £10! For that price, what's not to love?

What have you been buying lately?

Panda-monium! (Next Panda Print Ballerina Slippers Review)

Slippers. I don't often buy slippers for myself. They're something I usually receive for Christmas from my family or best friend. For that very reason, I own at least four pairs (that I can think of), all in various states of wear; well loved but well looked after. It's fair to say I'm well prepared for keeping my feet warm and cosy during the bracing Winter cold.

So, there really was no need for me to buy myself another pair this week... 

Apart from the fact I needed these slippers because they are covered in sweater-wearing pandas! That's right, pandas! I mean, who doesn't need slippers with adorable pandas all over them?? 

I'd popped in to our small local Next with my sister, who wanted to check out the home ware, and on our way through, these slippers caught my eye. The panda print stopped us both in our tracks. I was so taken with them, I would have treated myself to them there and then, but my size was out of stock. Of course, I didn't let that stop me, and I ordered them online a few days later. 

And, well, you can see them for yourselves! Introducing my Next panda ballerina slippers...

I'm sure those of you who are as smitten with animal motifs as I am will agree that these slippers really are adorable. The pandas really make these slippers a winner in my eyes; their proud little faces are impossible to resist. It's also refreshing to find a pair of girlie printed slippers that aren't bright pink and emblazoned with cartoon characters... There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but that's just not my style.

These slippers are a different style to any I've owned in my memory, but they're everything I look for in a slipper: warm, cosy, comfortable, cute, and well fitting. I have wide feet, but they fit like a glove. I think the sizing is quite generous, and your regular size should fit you well. If you're between sizes, you'll probably want the smaller size. I'm a 6 and a half, but the 7 was huge, and the 6 was perfect. 

The toes of the shoes are decorated with a bow in a golden colour.

Here's a closer look at the panda print.

The fabric of the shoe is cream and flecked with grey with the print all over, and then trimmed with gold piping.

The insole is just about the cosiest fleece my feet have ever touched, and that includes my expensive Ugg boots! If you're looking to give your feet some TLC this winter, then I recommend you consider checking these out- your feet will thank you!

And, if you needed any more detail in a pair of slippers, the soles are also decorated with hearts and a well-used Christmas / Winter quote.

So, would you believe me if I told you that they only cost a purse-friendly £10? Believe me or not, it's true! The slippers will only set you back a tenner! That's nothing for a cute pair of fuzzy warm slippers that will keep your feet warm throughout the winter chill.

The slippers can be found here and they stock UK sizes 3-8; get them before they go!

Oh, and I must quickly mention, before I go, how fantastic Next's customer service is. I ordered these slippers late one evening, and they arrived by noon the next morning! I'm so impressed with how efficient their delivery service is. You really can't ask for better than that with a standard delivery option for £3.99!

A Bird on the Cardigan is Worth Two on the Dress

Lately I've been having a mini clear out of unwanted things to earn myself a little extra cash, and this dress very nearly went in the eBay pile.

I bought it around the time I started this blog, a good year and a half ago, and although I loved it at the time, I convinced myself it wasn't all that great. I think that was because the fabric is that thin, satin-like polyester which I'm not a huge fan of. So, the dress had been unworn and unloved in my wardrobe for over a year.

When I selected it from my wardrobe with a handful of other clothes destined for eBay, I then tried it on again, to be sure. I always make sure. And... well, as I stood in front of the mirror, I decided it was actually quite pretty on, and wondered why I'd allowed it to go unworn for so long. I saved it from the adoption process before it was too late, and decided to wear it a few days ago...

And it even made it in to the garden for a photo shoot!

Although, I couldn't have chosen a worse day for taking photos. It was extremely blustery outside, and I spent most of the time trying to hold down my dress with my hair across my face! I took about sixty photos, and only a handful were half-decent and didn't involve me flashing.

The dress is a royal blue midi-length tea dress with foliage and garden birds across it and I came from Dorothy Perkins. I think they also had this dress in a pale blue, but the bold cobalt won me over- it's one of my favourite colours. I love the long midi length, which is a couple of inches below the knee on me; dressing in it makes me feel so lady-like. The only thing I really don't get about this dress is why it has ruffles running from the bust down to the waist band. They look awful, and really do nothing for my figure. It would be so much prettier without them.

Isn't the print pretty?

I dressed it with a mint green cardigan, to match the mint foliage of the dress, and wore black opaque tights as it was so chilly. I'm now thinking grey tights would have looked better. 

I just slipped on my studded slippers to go outside, but it would look so much prettier with a pair of cobalt or mint heels.

I also accessorized with two Cath Kidston brooches of a blue tit and a chaffinch (I think), to continue on the print of the dress. The blue tit was having a conversation with one of the dress birds! 

And to coordinate even more, I wore my mint green floral ring which is made of jade.

Outfit Details

Dress-Dorothy Perkins // Cardigan-New Look // Tights-Evans // Slippers-New Look // 

Brooches-Cath Kidston // Ring-Local Shop