Zebra scarves and superheroes...

If you were going to sum me up in one outfit, it would probably look something like this. Cute dress? Check. Bright colours? Check? Matchy matchy? Check. A sense of fun? Check. It may not be particularly ground-breaking fashionwise but sometimes you just want to wear a nice dress and feel pretty AMIRITE? I have more or less given up on trying to keep this slip from poking out of the bottom of this dress and am treating it as an extra layer. I have an image of wearing a cropped white camisole with a white petticoat underneath instead but have no idea where I would find one...any ideas? 

Dress: Topshop, blazer: H&M, belt: H! by Henry Holland (from a playsuit), bag: Miss Selfridge,shoes:Office
 The cute badges are c/o the lovely Sophie at Crown and Glory. I received these pins in my goody bag from the Brum Blogger Meet and they have been the perfect finishing touch on my blazers recently. 


The gorgeous pink bag was a recent treat from Mark to match my increasing number of hot pink items and I am in love. It is a soft buttery suede and surprisingly roomy (perfect for the girl who carries everything but the kitchen sink!)


I had to dedicate the post to this wonderful zebra print scarf though! Perfect for those cooler evenings and for when you want to subtly jazz up an outfit. For some reason it's not on New Look's website but I have seen it in quite a few stores. Worn traditionally above and as  a SUPERHERO WORTHY CAPE below. I think my alter ego 'Mighty Mia' * looks pretty darn cool, don't you agree?!

MINI CAPE

FULL LENGTH REGAL CAPE
Do you like being 'matchy matchy'? What outfit would define you?
     

* Embarassing story, whilst we were at school, my friends and I did create names, superpowers and even designed what our costumes would look like for our alter-egos. Naturellement I was Mighty Mia with a rather fetching catsuit...What can I say, we were very uncool! 
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Hedgehogs at Brownies...

I have spoken about helping out at Brownies before and although I am fairly busy, I will always try and make time for it as I find it really rewarding.I have been helping out since I was 13 and I love being able to do some crafty things and spend some time nurturing these girls [cheesy but true]. This week though, rather than making something or going somewhere, we had a visit from A HEDGEHOG. We recently held a coffee morning to celebrate our 50th anniversary and the money we raised, we donated to Vale Wildlife and to say thank you they came in to tell us a bit more about the work they do. 

GFUHDASDLK 
Isn't she the cutest?! Kim from the Vale Wildlife centre told us lots about the animals that they care for and brought in a hedgehog for us to see. I nearly died as she was gorgeous! Kim also brought in lots of nests and skins for us to have a look at and it was really amazing to see what the nests looked like...



Snakeskin...
The hedgehog was shy at first but soon grew in confidence!
Gulls egg.
Owl pellet made up of all the bones/fur/feathers that an owl regurgitates as it can't digest them... NIIIICE
Goldfinch nest
Antlers. Trying to explain the rutting season to a group of curious 7 year olds was an interesting experience! 
Gull feather
Tarantula skin. I had no idea that tarantulas shed their skin like snakes but you learn something new every day! This was a fairly old specimen and unfortunately some of the legs had come off! 
Another nest...

We laid all of these different bits out on the table and the Brownies were able to go and have a closer look at each one which I thought was nice...


Did you know, hedgedhogs have very strong front legs as they use them for digging which means they are incredibly fast. 

It moved so fast the camera couldn't catch a picture!
The Easter bunny also visited!

Apologies for the blurry photos, it is difficult to take photos when you have 24 excited girls all craning to see a little hedgehog! Although I am not what you would call interested in nature or the 'great outdoors' [I always joke that I am allergic to fresh air] it was really interesting to find out a bit more about the wild animals we have that are native to this country. Vale Wildlife costs £20,000 A  MONTH to run so every bit that people can do really helps, after all prevention is better than cure!

Do you like hedgehogs? Have you ever volunteered?
     
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Brownie Guide...

 With the sun shining and a lazy day planned I wanted something light and bright to wear this weekend. With a bit of help from Twitter, I picked this lemon blouse and copper skirt combination. It was only when I was looking back through these photos that I realised how much it looked like a Brownie uniform! I volunteer at a local Brownie group on a Monday night and obviously my time there is starting to influence my wardrobe..

Blouse: George at ASDA, skirt: Miss Selfridge, belt: New Look, shoes: Office
 I love the fluidity of this skirt, it is so light and the coppery colour ripples with the pleats.


 I picked this up as a bit of an impulse purchase at work and although it's a more casual shape for me, the gorgeous detailing and soft lemon colour meant I couldn't resist!


Teamed with my trusty leopard print belt, ,definitely inspired by the lovely Michelle with this outfit! She likes a good sheer shirt and a knotted belt! 


 ...and just for the fun of it, the Brownie salute!



Were you ever a Brownie? What is making you feel spring-like?
     
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Schoolgirl chic?

This skirt is one of those pieces that never seems to photograph very well, which is a real shame as it is really lovely in real life. With the loafers and the blouse I got a real school girl vibe from this, especially with the plait! I really liked this outfit and it was perfect for a lazy weekend not doing very much... Originally I was going to pair this with my tweedy blazer but it looked far too 'rah' so I thought my coat would be a safer option ;)

Coat: Dannimac, blouse: Topshop, skirt: ASOS, loafers:Office, belt: vintage, bag: charity shop
Without the coat I looked even younger but sometimes looking young is no bad thing right? I'll be glad of it when I'm 50!




After our Aussie tutorial I couldn't wait to try this hairstyle again and I added a bit more volume at the roots with my trusty Aussie hairspray...


I think these loafers worked much better with this outfit than the last one I paired them with, the chunkiness of the shoe gave me a bit of height without making my skirt look too short... I know I always seem to be going on about the length of my skirts and dresses but I hate that feeling of risk when you wear a short skirt. When you're as clumsy as I am, the risk of exposure and the subsequent loss of dignity is much higher...

You have to love ugly shoes...
My favourite sunglasses, still going strong almost a year later. This is something of a miracle as I always just chuck them into my bag, drop them on the floor or leave them in my pocket when I sit down so the fact that they are still intact is testament to Accessorize's engineering!


Would you dress like a schoolgirl? Do you like 'ugly shoes'?
    
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A review: EcoTools Bamboo 6 Piece Brush Set

I bought this brush kit after I left my blusher brush at home when I went to Mark's house. Normally I wouldn't mind but I had his work Christmas party to attend and I only had powder blushers with me. Cue a panicked purchase in Boots... I was so impressed by my purchase that I just had to share them with you! I apologise for the vague terms that I use, I'm not a beauty blogger but when I find something that works, I stick to it and sing its praises to anyone who will listen. Harriet wrote a post recently about her new favourite  make-up brush and that inspired me to share my favourites...



As it was only a small store they only had a couple of brushes to choose from and this 5 piece set worked out to be the cheapest. I hadn't really heard of Eco-Tools as a brand before but the fact that they are cruelty free and eco-conscious is a real bonus for me!

My new favourite blusher brush
 I have always preferred fairly full blusher brushes and I love the fact that this one is slanted as I can apply products much more precisely than before whilst still giving a nice flush of colour. One sweep with this brush and you are done!

 Clumpy eyelashes begone! There is nothing I hate more than clumpy eyelashes and along with the blusher brush, this is the one brush I reach for daily. I only wish the eyebrow brush was a little more rigid, my eyebrows need a firm brush to be tamed!  

Eyeliner brush
Concealer brush
Eyeshadow brush
I am ashamed to say that I haven't actually used the other 3 brushes from the set as I don't actually know how to use them! I have always been a fan of applying my make-up with my [clean] hands and so the other brushes seem a bit pointless to me but I would love to hear your recommendations on how to use them or any YouTube gurus that I simply have to follow! 

Have you got any Eco-Tools brushes? How do you apply your make-up?
   
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Fee Fyfo Fum...

When I was contacted by Fyfo to review a pair of shoes, I wasn't sure. I have never felt a craving for  pink furry yeti boots [yes they are as hideous as they sound!] but when I saw these lovely Rocketdog boots I had to say yes! They remind me of something my gorgeous wifey Laura would wear and despite the heel, they are actually fairly comfortable. 

Dress: NW3 from Hobbs, tights: ASDA, belt: Primark, boots:c/o FYFO
 The one issue I had with these shoes was the fact that they came so high up my leg, I felt that wearing them with black tights would ensure that my legs didn't look quite so stumpy but I'm not sure whether it has worked or not!


At first I didn't like the ruffles on the side but I actually think they are necessary to break up the tweed a little...

Spot the ladybird...
I love the different colours that are woven through the tweed, perfect for picking up the colour of your accessories!

 A very chunky heel!

A better view of the heels...
I really like these boots but I am unsure about how to wear them without having to resort to black tights or short short skirts... any suggestions? My shoes arrived very quickly and although there were some very questionable shoes on there, I was impressed by the variety of choice on the website!

Would you wear tweed boots? How would you style these differently?
  
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Eastern inspired...

Getting hold of this dress was darn near impossible,I first saw it at the New Look press day almost a year ago and fell in love but despite stalking the New Look website fr months I couldn't find it. I knew they had put it into production because it was featured in nearly every magazine I read and I WANTED IT. Luckily, Mark managed to get hold of it and I very happily unwrapped it on Christmas Day! 

Dress:New Look, shoes: Hobbs
 One detail I really loved about it was the fact it was backless but I hadn't really thought about how practical this would be for 'real life' and as stick on bras DID NOT WORK (I'm looking at you Primark!) I had to do the next best thing and wear a pretty bra instead...


 The high neckline and satiny fabric reminded me of traditional oriental clothing, especially with the bird print and the little details really reinforced this...


Gorgeous covered buttons...

The fitted shape ensure that this is extremely flattering, especially on a curvier figure...


 I went for peachy make-up to match the gorgeous bird print [Do you see what I mean about the photos looking much softer with this camera?]


I really loved this dress but I don't know if I have made it look too formal, would it look better a bit more scruffed up? If I was less precious about it?

How would you style this? How do you solve the problem of  making backless dresses wearable?
 
P.S. I received a comment which informed me that Oriental is in fact a racist term which I was TOTALLY unaware of when I wrote this so I have changed the title of the post. I am utterly mortified that I could have offended anyone and I apologise if I did.
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Monki navy lace dress...

I bought this gorgeous navy lace dress when I was in London at #LDNLUNCH. Hannah took me and Lily to the Monki store on Carnaby Street and I fell in love. I have been desperate to try Monki clothing ever since Selina raved about them and I was not disappointed. I loved the layout of the store [I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures :( ] and could have easily bought bags full of stuff...I thought it was beautifully merchandised and I thought the prices were very reasonable too, I will definitely be going back!

Dress: Monki, belt: New Look, bag: c/o Accessories Direct, shoes: Office
I have been looking for a navy lace dress for a while now but all the ones I found were too blue and not dark enough... until I found this beauty! 


I bought this in a Large which I thought was usually equivalent to a 14 (my usual size) but I think the medium would have easily fitted so maybe size down if you buy it! I quite liked the looser fit though, it made it a bit more daytime appropriate as well as being very comfy, there's nothing like an elasticated waist! ;)


VERY windy weather made for some funny outtakes! 


I love the inky colour of the dress and  think it will look equally fab paired with some hot pink accessories! I just realised though that I paired navy blue with black... a fashion faux pas?!

Mark had chicken and bacon club sandwich with French fries
My bacon, brie and cranberry crusty granary roll...delicious!
Mark and I went for lunch at The Arthouse Cafe in Worcester which is linked with Huntingdon Hall and I would thoroughly recommend it, my food was lovely! Another unusual place to have lunch and a drink!

Do you like Monki? Would you wear navy and black together?
P.S. Apologies for the harshness in some of these photos, we were using a different camera and although it is very nice, I much prefer the softness of our DSLR!
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