Lace in Shades of Blue

Dress: here. Shoes: similar here.  - - - 
I feel I should point out, I'm aware it's October. I know this look is quite seasonally confused, and when I first saw this dress I was overcome with autumnal denial. When it arrived, I just had to photograph it, so I threw my coat off and got some strategically placed but irrelevant flowers involved to really emphasise the 'I'M TOTALLY NOT EVEN COLD RIGHT NOW' vibe I was going for. To make matters even funnier, just as we arrived at this pre-selected Tiffany-blue door, the heavens opened. Such irony. If you go back and look at the photos again, you'll probably be able to see that the floor is soaking wet and I'm sitting on the clear plastic that the flowers were wrapped in and I still ended up with a wet bum. Desperate times. 
Back to the dress itself; it's truly beautiful. Two tones of blue combined in a vintage looking lace, a deep v-neck with trumpet sleeves and scalloped edges. Heaven. I also love the fact that the body is lined, but the sleeves are sheer, meaning the the lace creates even more of a contrast against the skin. Even though it's not entirely weather appropriate, I'm happy to add it to my collection for future wear.
Do you ever buy completely inappropriate clothes for the season? Please help me feel less ridiculous. 

16 going on 17; a summer garden party

Dress: here. Hat: alternative here. 

Earlier this week we celebrated a family birthday with a garden party at Charlcote Park, a beautiful 16th century stately home set within its own deer park. The stunning Elizabethan style building which is still home to the Lucy family, once played host to Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare himself is said to have frequently visited to hunt within the grounds.

My extended family rented the right wing of the top floor of the house for the week in celebration of my Auntie Gill's birthday, which meant that when all the visitors left at 5pm we were left alone in the grounds. The family who still live in the house were away for the summer, so it was incredible to be able to wander the grounds alone (many 'welcome to my humble abode' jokes were made...)

It was a scorching hot day, and during the party, my mum and I couldn't resist excusing ourselves to explore the grounds. As we were admiring some towering cedar trees, we realised it would be a beautiful and unique location for an improptu photo shoot. I'd already commented on how this pale pink dress makes me feel like Liesl Von Trapp when she sings 16 Going on 17 (then I had an internal weep over the fact that I am now 24 going on 25 and that doesn't have quite the same ring to it...) so, when we spotted a pair of stone benches, we saw visions of Liesl leaping around the garden room and decided to have a little fun with it. 

The dress, which I paired with a vintage straw hat in an attempt to make it a little more casual, has fast become one of my favourites. It's delicate layers of fabric flow beautifully and the perfectly ruffled bardot neckline and hem are lined with wire to preserve and hold the incredible ruffled effect. Don't tell anyone, but I ADORED this dress so much, I also bought it in a mint green... 

The Red Dress

Dress - here. (alternatives below!) Shoes: sold out - alternative here. Bag: here.

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Have you ever seen an item and just thought 'I HAVE TO HAVE YOU' - even if, when you're honest with yourself, you don't really know where you'd wear it, or if you'd even have the confidence to wear it. That was what happened with this dress. I saw it's fluted sleeves and frilled neckline and instantly knew it'd end up in my wardrobe. The only aspects of it I wasn't convinced by didn't seem to matter when I tried it on in my bedroom, but when the prospect of leaving the house in it became real, it suddenly seemed daunting; it's quite figure hugging on top - will people stare? It's a bit short - my Granny won't approve... (and going up the tube escalators would be a dangerous game indeed...) So, over the course of about a month, I tried it on again and again, liked it, but never actually braved the outside world. Red is such a 'LOOK AT ME' colour, and although this might be contrary to your opinion seeing as I put a lot of myself online, I'm not one of life's natural born performers. I don't really enjoy attention. Don't get me wrong - if one of my instagram photos gets over a thousand likes I'll print it out, frame it and bask in the glory of internet validation, BUT, that's not real life attention. If those thousand people were stood in front of me...looking at me... I would slowly edge backwards into the nearest hedge. Quite like that gif of Homer Simpson.

So, the dress hung in my wardrobe, unworn and unloved, until my friend Paige encouraged me to be brave. For the first portion of our day out I did feel quite uncomfortable, I felt like a lot of people were looking at me. I think a lot of people can relate to this when I say that I'm very good at giving advice, but not so good at taking my own. I do think it's important to remember that just because someone is looking at you, doesn't mean they're thinking something bad. More importantly - even if they WERE saying something bad, who cares. A stranger's opinion, especially about something as trivial as a dress of a pair of shoes, doesn't matter. 

What do you think? Do you have anything in your wardrobe that you're too scared to wear?

Photos by Paige Joanna.

Flute Sleeve Dress with Embroidered Collar - Why Clothing Size Doesn't Matter

Dress: here. (Alternative here) | Earrings: Dior (alternative here) Lip Colour: here.
- - -  I'm fairly certain I owned an almost identical dress aged 4. In fact, I regularly see little people clothes and wish they came in my size (or seriously wondered if I could squeeze myself into 'age 11-12' - answer: lol no.) So when I saw this insanely adorable little piece I ordered it in a frantic, mad excitement. It makes me feel like a 4 year old milkmaid and that is absolutely fine with me. Every detail is exquisite; from the intricately embroidered cut-out collar and bib to the flute sleeves, complete with little bows. 
A little heads up; this comes up rather small. I find that the fit of Dahlia's clothes to lean more towards teeny-tiny bird-like creatures, which I am not. (I once ordered a pinafore dress from them which literally did not even cover my entire bum..) Their clothes come in sizes Small, Medium and Large -  I'm 5'9 and generally a size 10 in dresses, and I'm wearing a Large. I hate to admit that initially, a small part of me didn't like the fact that I was wearing a size Large, but then the more prominent, more reasonable side of my brain took over and I reiterated to myself what I've often told other people; the label in an item of clothing literally does not matter. I cannot stress it enough. I know people use the word literally so often these days that it's almost lost all meaning, but it literally doesn't matter. The cut/measurements of clothing varies hugely from store to store. As long as it fits and it looks good, no one knows what size you're wearing and more importantly, no one actually cares. (And of course, it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway - a larger size does not necessarily equate to 'less attractive'.)
What do you think? Do you care what the labels in your clothes say?

Mosaic Print Dress in Mykonos Town

Dress: here. Earrings: Dior (alternative here). Sunglasses: here.

Hello!

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I have an embarrassingly late and super quick little outfit post to share today. These photos are from my trip to Greece last month (taken in the grounds of the lovely Semeli Hotel) and having got a bit swept away in photographing as many autumnal outfits for the season as I could as soon as I got home, I forgot I even had these prepared! 

This dress, if you can believe it, is from Abercrombie & Fitch. I played what was probably a very annoying  'guess where this dress is from' game with everyone who commented on it and not one person guessed the brand correctly. I personally associate Abercrombie & Fitch with jeans, preppy shirts and t-shirts, so when I saw this pretty little dress on ASOS, and for such a reasonable price too - I thought it would be a perfect little summery addition. It'll also have a second wind when I'm in Singapore over Christmas and New Year so I'm extremely happy with this inexpensive and surprising little purchase!

Big thanks to Jenny (@JennyGrovess) for taking these photos!