Jackpot!

Ohhhh the joy of buying new things! There was no way I could pass up the New Look sale or the Dorothy Perkins special offers, so I purchased some lovely things (mostly lovely anyway!)

Starting with New Look, I went shoe-mad! The sale is so cheap and cheerful.

First up are these funky boots - they're faux leather, £12 in the sale. 

I just had to try them. To me these are mid heels although I'm sure any normal woman would call them low heels. I can just about manage a heel is it's chunky, and I thought these would be good with skater dresses, maxi's and jeans, so for £12 I'm on to a winner.

I sometimes have to go up to a size 8 in New looks regular boots, but the 7 is okay on me... no thick socks but hey, I can deal with that! They feel like they're going to be quite comfortable so I'm keeping 'em! Sorry to say that they seem to have sold out now but they have similar here.

Next up are a little pair of gold slippers that I figured I may as well try 'cause they were only £7! I love a bit of cutout lattice type thing on shoes.

I don't think these are supposed to be wide fit but they're much more generous that other slippers I tried in New Look (I tried to get some of these in store rather than ordering them online & tried tons of stuff on and most of the size 7 slipper & brogues were too small for me in width and length) so these fitting is a pleasant surprise! 

These were full price in store last week so although they have sold out of these online you may snap them up in your local new look. You can get something similar for £7 here though!.

Last on my New Look Odyssey were these glorious loafers! They are so perfect for my odd feet... I have been looking for loafers for flippin' ages! These are wide fit and are a generous size so the 7 is great, don't pinch me at all (If you don't have square feet like me I'd recommend sizing down!) and they feel so right on my feet. I love the fringing and although i thought I'd hate the chain I really don't mind it on this colour at all.

Oh my how I love them! I've probably said this before, but I am so utterly shite at buying black shoes, despite the fact that I ALWAYS need black shoes.... I looked at the black version of these and went 'yeah but dark red is such a cool autumnal colour', failing to remember the oxblood brogues I already have! Oh well, these are actually more of a burgundy than a deep red so they will go with purple better than my brogues.

I have instantly ordered the black pair too (£12 for gawds sake!) in order to be sensible (I'll cut the chain of of the black ones to make them super plain though!). LOVE!

On to Dorothy Perkins!

I made this order because I wanted this Skirt (not in the sale) and am sad to say that the waistband is just too tight for me to wear comfortably. I'm sad because I love this skirt.... closet thing I've found to a Jibri style. 

It doesn't look too bad in the pics but I can only get it on if I put it over my top belly at the front and under my back flab at the back and it really digs in. WAY too small when I sit down as you can imagine! This is a 22 and has no stretch to the fabric or waist. Never mind, I've live with the disappointment! For you ladies with a smaller waist than me this will be great for you, it's a fabulous skirt and if they did bigger sizes I would definitely size up!

This dress is oddly generous for a Dorothy Perkins 22. I really like how it pulls in at the waist, but for me it's then too loose over my hips. If you have big hips or a big bum then seriously try this dress (maybe size down though!). For once it is a proper midi dress!

I was very happy to see this dress in the sale, because I loved my Asos version (navy and burgundy stripes) but I sold it after deciding that it was just too short on me. I wanted it to be at least knee length. this beauty is very similar but has black stripes instead of navy (which makes my leggings / tights options much easier at least!) and is a decent length midi. Again, this size 22 is really generous. It's stretch jersey, but it's really quite wide on the hips. I never understand DP, they cut their non-stretch clothing quite small but as soon as lycra is involved the cut is really generous.... I swear that's back to front!

Loving this dress. Keeping this one, and it matches my loafers down to the ground! They have sold out of this version but this is basically the same dress with a slightly different stripe. DP has loads on lovely bodycon dresses in the sale, all different lengths & styles so I recommend trying some out! All I need now are some decent tights to wear with it. Oh god... the search for decent black tights begins!

Wardrobe fortnight!

I'm not sure what I've been up to for the last few weeks that has made me so busy, but I'm only just getting round to my ootd round-up! anyway, here are my outfits from the last fortnight!

I've been doing a fair bit of tidying and getting things ready for winter so I guess I lost a bit of time to that.... I seem to be a loyal Nike fan huh?!

Monday last week

 This is an old favourite, I just love all the stripes that go in different directions and the detailing is lovely (see the delicious shoulders?!). It's not the most flattering on the belly because it's clingy stretch jersey, but damn its good on the boobs!

Dress 22 - M&S Autograph (came in a few colours and are often on ebay!)

leggings 20 - Primark

Brogues - Charity shop

Tuesday last week

 I've had this dress for ages and I still love it which is probably why I'm grinning!

 

Dress 22 - George

leggings 20 - Primark

shoes - Crocs

Wednesday

 This top is SOOOO old! the shoes on the other hand are relatively new, and despite being super soft they gave me the worst blisters on the back of my ankles. I think I needed the 6.5 and the 7's are too big. Will never wear them again!

 Top 16 - Primark

Jeans 22 - New Look Inspire

loafers - M&S

Thursday

Earrings - Primark

Dress 22 - Asos Curve

Leggings XL - H&M

Booties - £5 shop in Camberwell

Friday - DAY OFF!

I dyed & cut my hair on Friday & that's pretty much it!

I think I have FINALLY found the right hair dye for me!

 I was really worried that It was going to come out black when I put it on, it even looked a bit blue.

 Luckily it's just a very dark brown, and I'm so freaking happy because I've been trying to get my natural colour back and most dark browns do just go black on my hair. This is a lovely dark rich brown and covered my whites extremely well. My natural colour is super dark brown, but not black... I look like the undead when I have black hair. Now lets just hope they don't discontinue this one like they've done with all my other Schwartzkopf colours!

Fringe is back. Summer is officially over! Horse Jumper is an old one from Primark btw.

Saturday

Cardi 20 - Primark

Dress 22 - Simply Be via Crazy Clearance

Leggings & sexy socks - Primark

Sunday

Forgot to photograph my outfit but re-discovered my diffuser & took this silly selfie of me enjoying my tousled mane!

Monday - Another day off! 

Again, I didn't take a outfit photo, but Monday was my Bon Prix disappointment day. Let me tell you about it....

You know how everyone is going bonkers for tartan? I'm not that that keen on it myself, I only really like it when it's on Vivienne Westwood Style fitted suits, and I would only wear a proper tartan myself if it was a Westwood style blazer....

 ....when I saw this blazer on Bon Prix I lost my shit and ordered it straight away! It didn't go too well to be honest! Firstly Bon Prix (like H&M, who I never buy online with for this precise reason) won't deliver to commercial premises. What that means is that I couldn't have it delivered to work, which is a massive issue for me because I am away from my flat for 11hrs most days and there is nobody to take parcels. There is no access to our block for posties and our mail box is the size of an ipad. Argh! Next up was a big issue, when I looked at the order confirmation email I noticed that it said 'green/ yellow / pink tartan' which was news to me.... I had no idea the jacket came in different colours as there is only one picture of the jacket (the pic above).... I guess when I selected size 24 they had been out of stock and it had automatically jumped to another colour? I don't know, but either way I was concerned so I emailed customer services (I wasn't going to ring them when they don't have a freephone number!). No reply. Tried tweeting them but by the time I had a response the order had already been dispatched. On Thursday I checked my account and it said my order had been 'fully delivered'. Problem was I didn't have it. No one had been in the flat to take a parcel and it wasn't in the lobby so none of my neighbours took it in either. 2nd email to customer services. No reply... again. Turned to twitter and got a 'we're looking into this' a day later. It didn't turn up on Friday. It didn't turn up on Saturday.... I was worried they had delivered it to the wrong address or something! It arrived on Monday, and then later I got a tweet telling me it had been delivered... which obviously I knew because the courier had pressed my buzzer, told me I had a parcel and then left it outside the block and buggered off before I had even got down the stairs to pick it up!. Basically I'm not very impressed with Bon Prix and I cannot abide companies who have a customer service email address but never ever respond to their customers. It is something that puts me off shopping with them.

 Wrong fucking colour. You can probably tell that this size 24 is too small for me..... I couldn't do the buttons up all the way and it was horribly uncomfortable. If it was a better fit (or was available in a size 26 - I'm not worried about what the label says) then I would have exchanged it for the rainbow version in the stock photo with the turquoise. It's a very small cut for a 24, and the arms are unbearably tight on me. I'm genuinely sad about this though, because I LOVE the cut and style of this blazer! Okay I would have replaced the hideous jewel buttons and removed the silly bow thing that totally ruin the look, but otherwise this should have been my Westwood-style tartan dream-come-true! I didn't feel gutted at the time because I was already thinking that I'd send it back after such shite service, but seeing the pictures again I WISH I could get this in a bigger size. I would have worn the fuck out of it :(

 They didn't have many sizes available when I ordered but they seem to have restocked now, so for those of you guys size 22 & under you can get this jacket from Bon Prix for £59.99 here. My advice is to size up and make sure you keep an eye on the colour selection!

Tuesday

 I have wanted this dress for nearly a year now but it was so damn expensive that I resisted it until it sold out in the size 24. I was initially worried that it would be too short for me, but luckily Becky reviewed it here, and generally I can use the fit on her to work out what it'll be like on me... I need a larger waist than Becky but around the same chest size (I have smaller boobs but a bigger back so if a 22 is tight on her bust I know I need a 24 for instance) and I'm a fair bit taller too so I find her ASOS reviews really helpful!. I fully intend to buy the new version of this that is COVERED in embroidery too if it ever goes on sale. When it came up on ebay I bid and won, and here it is. JUST long enough for me. By the way, if you follow me on twitter this is the dress that arrived sopping wet, the seller gave me some money back though so including p&p I got it for just under £20. It got a bloody good wash and now it's fine (actually it has a hole under the arm that I'm going to have to fix, but hey-ho!)

Dress 24 - Asos Curve via ebay

Rose gold hoops - Silvershake

Leggings 20 - Primark

Shoes - New Look

Wednesday

 Bit of a different vibe on Wednesday with my clown trousers!

 I bloody love my new tassel bag!

 Thought I might as well go full-clown with my accessories so these are some old favourite moustache hoops, and my piano bracelet (which always reminds me of my delicious fella 'cause he is a pianist!).

Earrings - Asos

T-shirt 22 - Asos Curve

Trousers 22 - Dorothy Perkins

Bag (£10, also in grey & still in stores), bracelet & booties - Primark

Thursday

 I totally spilt my chocolate orange mocha all down the front of this dress before taking these pics! Luckily you can't see it here! One of my go-to comfy and casual dresses.

Dress 22 - New Look inspire

Leggings XL - H&M

Trainers - Nike (obviously!)

Friday

Dress 26 - Vintage

Cuff - H&M

This was £1 in the sale.... H&M have some great stuff in their accessory sale at the moment.

Saturday

Didn't get dressed... it was a good day!

Sunday

 

Dress 22 - Anna Scholz White Label

Leggings XL -  H&M

Boots - Primark

The in-laws visited us today, so effort was made! Proper deep conditioning of the hair, a sensible dress and comfy boots to walk around in. The weather was so lovely they couldn't have chosen a better day to visit!

Norwood Feast again (we go most months 'cause we are greedy gannets!) and would you just look at that 6 layered rainbow cake! Frosted and covered in sprinkles.... it called to me and my rainbow bright childhood! I resisted it because I didn't want to look like a crazy child in front of my boyfs folks so I got a much more grown up, E number-free (and probably more delicious) apple and blackberry crumble cake. I will have a slice of this one day. I'll need some alone time with it though!

 I cannot be let loose in a vintage market! I swear to god if I had the space for these I would have bloody got them and tarted them up big style. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Art Nouveau with a damn dirty passion!

 I resisted the £80 set of chairs, but I certainly did not resist the set of dusky pink vintage glasses for £8!

could I love these any more? No. They are tiny pieces of pink perfection!

And I'm done... phew!

Friday feeling

Okay so technically it's Saturday, but I didn't have time to write a post last night because I was doing some very important Terry's chocolate orange taste tests! Yesterday I wore my newest vintage piece...

I saw this dress on ebay and just thought it had so much potential. I got this for £3.20..... I mean come on! What a damn bargain! It's a John Neville size 26 but the seller very sensibly advertised it as a 24 what with the vintage sizing. I think it's a great size, it feels like a size 24 to me and it's nice to have a bit of room in it!

 Originally the dress had these sequin leaves around the neck, but when I tried it on it really dated the dress.

I took off the decorations..... very carefully 'cause I will totally sew them on to something else or turn them into brooches or something, they're really pretty but I just didn't like them on this dress! Look at the colour of this beauty, it's luminous! It has a blue/grey stretch lining with a chiffon overlay and is such a good length on me.

It's got a little opening at the back and you can see the lining underneath which is an unusual touch. Basically I love this dress.

As with some of my other ott dresses I like to dress them down a bit for work if it's just a regular day, so I diffused my hair to make it scruffy, wore my tan Chelsea boots, faux leather biker jacket and my new diamonte cuff. I've mentioned before that I sometimes struggle with proper bracelets when I'm working because they get in the way during my office days, but cuffs are perfect for me. Flexibility is good!

Jacket 24 - New Look Inspire (similar here)

Dress 26 - Vintage via ebay

Diamonte cuff - H&M

Boots - Primark

I've got a sponsored review coming up soon, and I've also ordered some shoes / boots from the new look sale, as well as some clothing from Dorothy Perkins (took advantage of some great discount codes & free postage!). When I get all my goodies I'll be back with some (hopefully) joyful reviews... hopefully everything will arrive on Monday so there is still time to get some of the sale items!