Frills 'n' Spills

This outfit is one of my favourites (don't tell the others!) - there’s nothing better than a brightly coloured blazer and a shiny pleated metallic skirt of dreams (thanks Monki!) to make you feel fancy. I am a complete magpie and  love anything shiny and although I already have a coppery metallic skirt (ahem) this looks much nicer with cool blue and green colours and is actually much easier to wear (mainly due to the slightly shorter length). It’s always good to know that you have both ends of the shiny skirt spectrum covered though and it's always good to have an unusual wardrobe staple too… I was going to leave the houselike this but it was freezing outside so I added my grey short-sleeved jumper.  My colleagues thought I looked like a jazzy 1940s secretary, never a bad thing in my book! 

Occasionally certain pieces of clothing become extremely popular with the blogging community and this Very teapot dress is another one of those blogger specials! Both Sarah and Gemma  own it (and look absolutely gorgeous in it!) and when you see its cute print and flattering shape, you can understand why it is just so popular. I had a bit of trouble getting hold of a dress in the right size (if anyone is interested in buying a size 10 version, please let me know!) but when it arrived, I couldn't have been happier.  The fit is true to size (perhaps a little generous around the bust) and it is really easy to wear. I paired my dress with all mustard accessories but you could easily pick up some of the other colours in the pattern and pair it with purple or red too! Very is not a brand I have ever bought from before as I was always put off by the fact it seemed like you had to sign up for store credit to pay for your (fairly expensive) purchases (you don't FYI) but I was really pleased with this dress and I will be keeping an eye out for their sale- I want this dress in every colour and print!

I am always slightly wary of dresses with sleeves, they are much more flattering on my less than slender arms (at least until I get on with actually doing Sophie’s triceps exercises!) but as a 'human radiator', I always get far too warm. Luckily these ones are  loose enough that your arms don’t get all claustrophobic (surely this can’t just be me?!) and gently skim over my wobbly bits thanks to some oh so flattering ruching...

I mean just look how flattering this dress is! The shape of this dress reminded me of a classic 1940s tea dress so I wanted some quite classic shoes to pair with it. These mustard shoes were sent to me a while ago but I don’t wear them as much as I would like as I always forget that I have them (oops). I am always a bit wary of wearing heels when I have to get the train (I blame falling flat on my face one winter evening for that one!) but this pair are reassuringly ‘solid’. Mustard can be a difficult colour to wear but I really love it with navy; it is much more interesting than beige or cream but it still looks quite classic.