Wedding Look Book

Wedding season is upon us and we all have just a touch of royal wedding fever too (I will be sat in front of the TV with a festive fascinator on my head for no reason). I love a wedding, in fact rumour has it I’m a bit of an enthusiast because I seem to go to so many, and while I don’t have twenty-seven dresses to show for it I have hit the ominous bridesmaid trifecta too. With the spring and summer fashions hitting the shops it’s time to start thinking about investing in a new dress or outfit or to recycle something I already own and I have been scouring the internet for some inspiration. These are some of my favourite ideas.

The Pink and the Black

Dress – Closet London; Black Court Shoes – Ravel; Facinator – Suzanne Bettley; Black Clutch – Oasis; Pink Clutch- Oasis; Shrug – Wallis; Pink Shoes – Oasis

Pastel florals for a wedding are completely ground breaking, I know. But who doesn’t love pink right now? In its way it has a modern and fashionable edge to it, but the cut and the print is classic enough that it won’t date. The other thing I love about this dress is I could accessorise it with black pieces, which I already own, or I could get these beautiful little pink shoes from Oasis. Confession, I saw the shoes before the dress.

One of my top tips for wedding season is to keep your accessories neutral, I have black and nude clutches, facinators, shrugs and court shoes that I can use again and again, and I never need to purchase new accessorise for any wedding outfit if I don’t want to.

Nudista Fashionista

Jacket- Oasis; Clutch –Dune; Clip – Amazon; Earrings – Beaverbrooks; Bangle – Pandora; Court Shoes – Dune

If you’re looking for something a little more fashion forward than a pink floral dress then nothing screams bold and glamours at a wedding more than a jumpsuit. Whenever I’m at a wedding the guest in the jumpsuit is always the envy of every woman there. This one from Warehouse would be best for a more formal evening wedding, but would still work for a summer or even a winter wedding. I would keep the accessorise quite neutral, with just my everyday jewellery and this adorable scalloped edge jacket.

I don’t think that this is the type of piece that would work with a hat, but if you still want something for your hair then I would recommend looking for a jewelled hairclip, Amazon is a great starting point for something like this, as they have a huge selection for a very reasonable price.

The Mad Hatinator

Hatinator – Monsoon; Shoes – Dune; Clutch – Katie Loxton; Shrug – Monsoon; Dress – Oasis

If this dress from Oasis’ Fitzwilliam Collection doesn’t scream wedding I really don’t know what does. I love the on trend midi length and the off the shoulder detail and, but I love it more because I won’t have to stress over wearing a strapless bra! This would be utterly perfect for a proper English Country Wedding. I’d also like to take a moment for the hatinator, which I think is so glamourous, but not quite as daunting or mature as the traditional big hat. Every time I buy a wedding outfit I contemplate a big hat, but I’m too much of a wimp. Should this be the year I go for it?

The silver clutch and shoes are another alternative to the nude or black. If you’ll be outside then then a block heal is both fashionable and practical, you won’t sink into the grass in the middle of the champagne reception.

Destination Deity

Dress – Coast; Clutch – Accessorize; Pashmina – Chesca; Headband – Accessorize; Sandals – Carvela; Bangles – Accessorize

Honestly, I love a maxi dress. This one from Coast will hide all manner of sins, but the cut on the natural waist will also be super flattering. Forget about the etiquette of dress lengths, a maxi dress is a great, comfortable alternative for a wedding. A couple of years ago I attended a destination wedding, on a yacht, and while I was a bridesmaid this would have been a prefect option if I hadn’t been. But I think a maxi is a great option, nobody ever looks bad in a maxi dress, and it’s a great alternative look to your traditional floral, pastel shift dress.

One of the most important things to consider is your environment, if you’re at a destination wedding keep your shoes flat, because boat or beach stilettos aren’t practical and to amp up the look go gold. A hairband is a great idea if there is a sea breeze and a scarf can multifunction as protection from the sun and the sea breeze.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Dress – Chi Chi; Shoes- Miss KG; Earrings – New Look; Clutch – Lipsy; Fascinator – Chesca; Coat – River Island

My final option is to reuse something I have worn before. But to reinvent the look. I’ve already mentioned having neutral staples at the ready to pair with dresses but the same can be said for your clothes too. I love a shift dress, and have a very similar one to this crochet one from Chi Chi which I had a few years ago. I also have a smart cream coat, that I can throw over anything I want when the weather is being predictably unpredictable, I once went to a June wedding where the guest spent the whole day frozen!

So if you’re not looking to splash the cash on a new dress then try mixing it up with different shoes and a bag. Another alternative would be to pair it with some on trend jewellery, like these statement orb earrings from New Look, it will completely refresh a trusty old dress.

Weddings can be an expensive, even when you’re just a guest, I’d never just rush into a purchase without some careful thought and consideration, actually I’ve already done some shopping and eliminated some option. But which one of these options is your favourite?

*Links and not affiliated. Photos are not my own. All credit goes to the owner.

Fifty Facts About Me

I think it might be time for a get to know me post. So here are fifty interesting, mildly interesting and probably even some boring facts about me.

1) I’ve always consistently wanted to write books. I wrote my first story when I was three, it was about a girl who dances naked in a field and dies of a fever. I must have been a really twist child!

2) I wasn’t taught to read, I simply picked it up as I went along and could read before I started school.

3) Despite this I was diagnosed with dyslexia, very late on, just after my twenty-first birthday.

4) I don’t know what my favourite book is. It depends on the day.

5) I am a huge huge Jane Austen fan, my love of the internet started with Jane Austen fanfiction.

6) I had a story plagiarised, I still can’t get my head around the idea that somebody was making money off something I wrote when I was sixteen.

7) Although Mr Darcy is of course Mr Darcy, I have a literary crush on Henry Tilney.

8) I have a degree in Medieval History, I’d been meaning to read English until I started studying Chaucer.

9) I also have a masters in History Theory. It was probably the poorest financial decision I’ve ever made.

10) I wish I’d thought about becoming an architect, but then I remember that I’m useless at drawing and I don’t really like maths much either.

11) After I’d finished university I became a cliché working in a coffee shop.

12) I still hate coffee. It smells so good, but it tastes so different.

13) I neither love nor hate marmite. I can’t be the only person who is indifferent to the stuff, right?

14) I have been putting together a world carbonara ranking since I was ten years old. It’s my absolute favourite food ever.

15) I’m allergic to tomatoes (mildly) and coconuts (hideously). Aside from food allergies I’m also allergic to chicken pox and penicillin.

16) I’m lactose intolerant, but not very good at it because obviously there is pizza and tea and chocolate in the world and I have zero self-control. And of course there is the aforementioned spaghetti carbonara too.

17) The only food I absolutely will not touch is beef. Although I wouldn’t eat pork after watching Babe.

18) Pigs are my favourite animals.

19) I claimed to hate sushi for years and year, but I’d never tried it. I’ve only just learnt I love it and now I can’t believe I’ve deprived myself of it for so long.

20) As a kid Disney was largely banned in our house, although we were allowed to watch anything we were given.

21) I still haven’t seen Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, but I know that Belle is my favourite princess anyway.

22) I watched The Little Mermaid for the first time in an A-level history class, my teacher was honestly concerned I hadn’t seen it yet.

23) Even though I’m not an avid fan of the films I’ve been to Disneyland Paris four times, the most recent this summer.

24) I haven’t travelled as much as I’d like, but I loved Egypt when I had the chance to go there.

25) Going on holiday with me is quite hectic, I get a bit obsessed with site seeing, and I really want to see it all before I leave. I’m not one for lazing around by the pool.

26) The one place in the world I’m desperate to visit in Venice.

27) I have a twin brother, who is my complete opposite in personality. He was like my human security blanket when I was little.

28) I’m related to Samual Morse, the inventor of Morse Code, which is cool, but would be better still if I was also related to Inspector Morse.

29) My Dad has one hundred and twenty first cousins, but I only have one half cousin.

30) To this day I’m convinced I once levitated around my house when I was eight. Sadly, the rational side of my brain knows I must have dreamed it.

31) I love Harry Potter so much I thought that was a sure fire sign that I’d get my Hogwarts Letter.

32) I believe in ghosts, and have lived in two houses with a spirit. One was friendly and the other ceased her hostilities eventually. I swear I’m not totally crazy.

33) I am a cat person, and have always lived with cats. I only have one right now, I call him Bear.

34) I’d like to keep chickens and goats for pets too.

35) If I was really really rich, the most extravagant thing I would spend money on would be wearing new socks every single day.

36) I absolutely love clothes, but somehow I can’t figure out why I keep running out of storage space.

37) My biggest fashion gripe is that a lot of clothes are made for women without women’s shapes.

38) I wear a GG bra, they’re all real, and it’s quite a burden. Should I even be telling the internet this?

39) I wasn’t interested in makeup in my teens. I didn’t really wear it until I was twenty-one.

40) Like a lot of people, I got into makeup watching YouTube Beauty Gurus. I found it relaxing watching makeup tutorials, I used it as a way of calming my anxiety.

41) Somehow I’m still not particularly good at applying it myself, I guess I just lack any sort of artistic talent.

42) I love dancing, I started ballet when I was three years old, and even though I’m pretty clumsy I’m sure it would have been ten times worse without.

43) As well as ballet I’ve studied tap, modern, jazz, latin and ballroom.

44) I can play the piano and clarinet, but only where there’s nobody around to hear me.

45) Everybody thought I would become an actress, despite being painfully shy.

46) Whenever I meet a famous person I don’t have a clue who they are. This includes, but is not limited to Prince Charles and Camilla. More embarrassingly I once told Jasper Carrot I thought he was a black man (I was nine, my parents still love to tell the story).

47) My friends all call me giraffe, because of my skinny legs. Each different group has come up with this idea independently.

48) I lived in London for five years, I used to think I’d be there forever, but I’m happier in my field in the country now.

49) Sometime I feel like the only person who’s lost and confused by live. But other days I think I adult quite convincingly. Does everybody feel as at sea as me.

50) I’m sorry I cannot think of a fiftieth fact! So I lied, it’s only forty-nine semi interesting facts about me.

What I got for Christmas

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without socks.  Of all the gifts I receive each year, it’s always the socks which I remember getting and can precisely date years later. This year, I’m going to keep a record for myself, and if anybody else wants to read (I like these, but I was born nosy) then by all means be as nosy as I am.

This year there is not a duff present in sight, everything I received was thoughtful and am excited to use each thing I received. First off, because I am still definitely young enough for Santa, he brought me a new Radley purse with a cute little motivational Beyoncé approved motto. I have a large purse and a tiny purse from Radley already, sadly I tend to over fill the large and the tiny one just isn’t big enough it’s also in a completely impractical pale pink colour. I’m fairly confident that this one, in a darker pink and a slightly larger size will be just right.

Santa was also nice enough to include the highly important socks, which are sparkly, pink and covered in cats, so they are utterly perfect. There was also a pair of rose gold earrings, which I cannot wait to have an excuse to wear. He also got me a manicure set from Avon, and their nail varnish is some of my favourite. There was also a portable charger that looks like a lipstick, this will be super useful to put in my handbag, my phone is reaching the end of its lifespan now and the battery has become unnervingly temperamental.  

Actually I got two portable chargers this year, which has made me wonder, why are these appropriate presents, considering you’re essentially gifting somebody a battery? Don’t get me wrong, I was really pleased with them both, they are useful and I’ve been toying with the idea of getting one for a while. But I’ve got this vague idea that gifting somebody just batteries is rude – I think I’d be upset if I unwrapped a packet. So what’s the difference?

From my gaggle of real and respectful nephews and nieces I got, some very sweet presents. A lovely plaid, grey and gold scarf. A copy of “Howard’s End”, which has just been televised and my love of a period drama and books is very well known, so I’d already been thinking about getting a copy and now I don’t have to! My nephew very proudly gifted me Taylor Swifts new album, because we love to dance to Shake it off, for five he is incredibly thoughtful. From a friend I also received a very cute little pink hat with a super fluffy pom pom, I’ve wanted one of these for years, but despite being an avid hat wearer, I look ridiculous is them whenever I try them on. She has somehow picked the only one on the planet I don’t look ridiculous in, and sadly it doesn’t have a label.

Otherwise I got clothes, mostly in burgundy. A cord pinafore from Oasis, which I have had my eye on for a while as it will be perfect for winter layering, I have to admit it’s quite tight around the boobs, and while I was zipping it up had some visions of Elizabeth Swann exclaiming, “Women in London must have learnt not to breath!” There was also a lovely top with a lace insert from New Look, that will look good in the spring paired with jeans and a leather jacket, I’m really excited to wear it.  

My mum also got me a Christmas jumper, although she gave me that for Christmas Eve. However frivolous it is I seem to have a new Christmas jumper every year now, which gets stashed away from pretty much twelve months of the year. I love the pale blue colour of it, most of my others are predominantly red, and the penguin design with the little bit of sparkle isn’t so ostentatiously Christmas that I’d only get away with it for a tiny portion of the year. It’s from Marks and Spencer, the only thing I would say is the fit of the arms is nothing short of bizarre.

The final thing I was really really excited by was a hot brush. I’ve been eyeing these up for a while now, because I have ridiculously fine hair and I will do anything for some extra volume. The one I have is from Remington and is from the Keratin Protection range. I love Remington hair tools, so I’m sure these will be good and I’m looking forward to experimenting with them to see how well they work.  

Aside from that I got a few other very Christmassy essentials, a time travelling diary and pen (no seriously half way thought the year becomes 2108, an excess of chocolate coins, a lot of bottles of prosecco, some money from the relatives living abroad, which will hopefully partially transform into a new watch, and a few smellies, and bits of makeup. I’m sad Christmas is over for another year, but I feel like I’ve been really lucky. How about you?