Cheeky BooHoo order...

I may have just placed a sneaky BooHoo order.... 

I fell into the usual trap - I watched a couple of haul videos on YouTube earlier which just made me think 'aaaah clothes, aaaaaah internet shopping', and now here we are. I added over one hundred pounds worth of items to my BooHoo basket before taking a step back and putting my thinking cap on and realising this was a bad idea. Mainly because there's that thing coming up... what's it called??? Oh yeah, CHRISTMAS! Which means I need to be sensible with my monies. So I removed quite a large portion of my basket and stuck with these three:

1. Grace Deep Plunge Velvet Skort Playsuit - I'm thinking this will be perfect for a night out at the weekend. Plus I have some killer new boots which will look awesome with this. I would recommend the old trick of ordering two sizes of playsuits on BooHoo. When I've bought playsuits before I've fit sizes ranging between 8 - 12 on there so it's always good to order an extra just to see.

2. Ellie Pom Pom Trim 3/4 Sleeve Swing Dress - I just love paisley prints, which is my only justification for this. I could do without the pom poms but I suppose you can't win them all.  

3. Anne Embossed Velvet Smock Dress - And this one is sorting me for Christmas day! 

I know I've bought two items in berry red velvet which is normally something I would stop myself from doing, and when I was having my 'basket cleanse' I would've made myself choose just one. BUT in this case I really liked the red velvet and thought that since the playsuit is very much a 'going out' outfit which I would only wear for a proper night out (not just a meal / drinks), it would be ok to get a more casual dress in the same material that could either be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. 

As I said, I had much more in my basket that I got rid of, but two dresses worth an honourable mention are:

1. Penny Peacock Print Smock Dress - Really cute pattern here which I think could be quite versatile and wearable both in and out of work which is always good. The only reason it didn't make it into the final basket was simply that I only wanted one patterned dress (the embossed flowers on the velvet dress don't count!) and I preferred the paisley one above! 

2. Una Fox Print Pleat Front Skater Dress - You know how we talked about my cat collection? Well I also have a pretty significant fox collection too and I can't resist things with foxy patterns on like this adorable dress. However, I feel this would be one of those purchases where it's all fine and dandy and cute until I actually try to wear it. I feel like I would end up looking like a small child. Also, I've just bought a fox print scarf (so that will have to satisfy my fox print needs for the time being).

Until next time :)

Wardrobe Overhaul #2 : The Colour Palette

One thing I did before beginning my wardrobe overhaul was read a few other blogs and articles on the topic. The one I found most helpful was this one by Audrey at Putting Me Together. I hadn't come across her blog before but when I was looking for help via Google, I felt she provided the most relatable guide. A lot of the advice given on other blogs were more aimed at people wanting to make their wardrobe more "on trend", which I felt wasn't solid enough for me. I'm not looking for a more 'fashionable' wardrobe, I'm to build up a wardrobe full of staple pieces that of course, can support trends, but with a backbone that I can rely on regardless of what ever the seasons key looks are.  

Before now, I never really thought of a wardrobe / fashion as being a conscious decision. I mean it never crossed my mind to go into H&M for example, and pick something up that I liked the look of but then put it down because it wouldn't fit in with my style. I don't want to be too prescriptive but I think it's a good way to start for me because I'm sucker for just buying things I like without actually thinking it through. Audrey gives great tips in her series but what really stood out to me was the idea that it's ok to have a pre-defined colour palette that influences your fashion choices. Obviously if you see something you fall in love with that's out side of that colour palette you can (and should!) still buy it. But the idea of having structure is one thing I'm loving.

So as we're now coming up to the colder months my colour palette is very much geared towards winter. When spring rolls around, I think I'll be developing a summer palette as well but for now the  colours I've chosen are winter appropriate (and will probably come as no surprise what so ever)...

Audrey talks about how to chose your colour palette in quite a lot of depth so if you are interested then I suggest reading her series thoroughly. Basically she says you should chose a couple of neutrals and two or three "accent colours". I cheated slightly and chose three neutrals because I'm just that wild. My accent colours are ones I'm naturally drawn to, and would happily wear throughout the year if it were more appropriate but if I did I would be immediately outed as the winter lover I am!

So, I now have a bzillion items of clothing for sale on eBay and I'm ready to start rebuilding my wardrobe! There's probably more things I will get rid of as and when I start buying more new additions - if I got rid of everything I didn't want to keep at this stage I would probably only have about five outfits left.

Until next time :)

Wardrobe Overhaul #1

We all know the feeling of opening your wardrobe doors and feeling completely disenchanted with everything staring back at you. It happens. It's normal. And usually it's not really a big deal in the grand scheme of life. However, at the moment I feel completely uninspired every time I open my wardrobe. 

I don't know what to wear when I go out for a meal with Nick, I don't know what to wear when I go for casual drinks with my friends, I don't know what to wear for nights out, and I don't even know what to wear on a day to day basis (and by day to day, I mean weekend to weekend as I'm surprisingly ok for work wear). 

So I'm on a mission - a wardrobe overhaul mission. I've already started putting things on eBay so now I just need to start thinking about what I want my new wardrobe to look like. I've been mentally making lists of reasons of what specifically is making me feel like this about my current wardrobe and I've come up with the following:

- Too many patterns: Seriously, there are patterns everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I loooove patterns (mainly florals) but it's got to the stage where nothing compliments each other, and there's just too much going on. When I open my wardrobe I'm just confronted with a mass of colour and patterns that just don't go together and it's overwhelming! I also think that patterns can sometimes make you look a bit childish. I know this isn't the case all the time - and I'm definitely not giving up my florals, but it is something that I need to be wary of.

- Sale items: I'm a sucker for a sale. I used to be a firm believer in shopping mainly in sales purely because I didn't have much money and the thought of buying one really nice dress for £40 when I could get 4 for £10 each in the sale just didn't compute. I don't know whether it's just because I'm a bit older and have the luxury of earning a decent wage, but now I'd much rather have the one dress for £40 and know it was going to be a long standing addition to my wardrobe. Having said that, I do still automatically go to sales racks and obviously you can find some absolute gems on them, but I really need to only buy sale items that I know I will actually wear and that will ultimately compliment my wardrobe. 

- Lacking separates: I would confidently say that about 75% of my wardrobe is made up of dresses. Don't get me wrong, I am a dress lover but in the past this has been somewhat down to the fact I just didn't want the hassle of thinking about what skirt/trousers to wear with what top/shirt/jumper. I want to start buying more separates that will give me more options. I'm in no way going for a "capsule" wardrobe, but you can mix and match separates which obviously creates so many more options when it comes to outfit planning. 

- Lacking in sophistication: I think this point is basically the conclusion that can be drawn from the preceding three points. I want a more grown up wardrobe. When I go out, I want to feel comfortable and confident. I don't want to lose the core of my style - which is florals, polka dots, floaty dresses and pretty collars but I want to make sure that when I buy something I feel confident and comfortable in it (and not like a child), and also be certain that I've got a number of options for that item. 

The next 'instalment' of this series will be about the colour palette I'm going to be going for and what sorts of items are on my list of 'must haves'.

For now, I will leave you with three women who I feel mix cute, girly yet sophisticated to perfection:

Who are your style inspirations?

Until next time :)