OOTD: Denim and Poppies

Here's a quick OOTD. This top is from Store 21 (used to be quality seconds) its a size 22 and cost £7.99 which I think is a bargain. I actually bought this top because I thought it went well with denim, although the print is pretty on trend, I just loved the colours. I wore this top to go for a bike ride in today (I'm still being vain and taking my bike helmet off for pictures!) we went for a little ride past a poppy field the poppies are grown for making morphine but they are pretty too!

Jeans @ Evans

Top @ Store 21

Shoes @ New Look

The OSP Challenge

Well, I have another style challenge for you, this time from OSP. Very much like my last post this challenge was set up by Claire and involves six pairs of identical trousers, six bloggers and two looks each. The roll call is here:

Claire

Kirsty

Gina

Sally

Beth

These Ellos Trousers courtesy of One Stop Plus are at the centre of the challenge. So the deal was to style the trousers up in two ways, firstly a casual look and secondly a dressed up look.

I knew pretty much instantly how I would style them up for a daytime look. I decided to go with a denim shirt and some tan gladiator wedges:

Trousers @ OSP

Top @ Yours Clothing

Belt @ New Look

Shoes @ New Look

These trousers are a 20-22, They are a fairly loose fit, sort of closer to leggings than trousers. The fabric is very lightweight and is is very easy to wear.

Next up is my dressed up look, I must admit I struggled to dress these trousers up, in the end I went for a very strong look involving a lot of make up!

Shoes @ New Look

Belt @ Next

Top @ DP's

Bolero @ Evans

If I'm honest I much prefer the dressed down look and I'm not sure If I will dress these trousers up much. but I did enjoy delving into my wardrobe!

Anyhow not much more to say, pictures speak a thousand words so they say. If you do need some more words feel free to ask anything in the comments section!

Incidentally the garden chairs are from Next a couple of years ago. They are really good quality and pretty too. I am always very surprised by the vast array or stuff Next do! We are steadily filling our little garden with pretty things. I love bees so we bought some lavender at the weekend. Here's my lovely lavender:

Joe Browns Challenge

Welcome to my first review piece! The lovely Claire has done a fine job of organising a Joe Browns challenge courtesy of Simply Be. The idea is that we all style up the tunic in our own way, I am delighted to be taking part with some other great stylish ladies, the roll call is:

Claire: A Monkey Fatshonista

Gina: Fat Fit Fine

Sally: Fatshion!

Joanna: justjoanna

I have always been a bit nervous about doing reviews. Will the item fit? Will I actually like it? Do I trust myself to take some decent photos and post them on time?! Could I actually afford the item? (I have always been keen to post items within my budget).

When Claire sent through the link to the item I was delighted as I really liked the tunic (its something that I would spend money on and actually buy). When the tunic arrived the colours proved to be as vibrant and beautiful as the pictures on the web. If you fancy treating yourself to this lovely tunic you can find it here, its also available in green here.

I was intending to dress this tunic down with flat shoes and tan but as I hunted through my wardrobe I thought I'd add another purple hue and some bling! So without further a do this is what I did:

So the eagle eyed of you will notice that I'm wearing this top backwards!.... well... it was an individual style challenge! I sometimes find that a cross over bust doesn't suit me as well as a plain one however since a lot of the fitting is in the crinkle nature of the fabric I found that I could easily wear this top backwards. This top is one of those crinkle ones that you wash and tie a knot in to keep the creases... wohoo no ironing! Size wise I opted for the 24 however a 22 may have been better for me as there was quite a bit of room in the bust. I would say this top runs completely true to size. I also liked the way the horizontal purple strip sits at the back when worn back to front. In addition my natural waist is lower than the tie belt so it seemed to work better.

Incidentally this top is made in India. My Dad spent four months working in India last year (far from the tourist trail) and came home in love with the people and culture. He made lots of friends whilst over there and has nothing but good things to say hence this top makes me think of India which in turn makes me think of my folks which makes me smile!

Look here's some slightly tanned arms too (what a treat!):

Tunic Joe Browns @ Simply be

Legings @ New Look

Shoes @ New Look

Cardigain @ Monsoon

So that's my first review piece I hope I did OK, any questions about fit etc. please feel free to ask in the comments section. Many thanks to simply be and Claire. I am already planning my next Joe Browns purchase!

Hope you all have a good weekend and it rains slightly less than it did last weekend!

OOTD Goldfishes!

Howdy folks. Hope you are all well. Here's a very quick outfit post from last week. (apologies-photo quality is meh!) This top is a quirky little number with a goldfish print here its actually by evans but the print is from a top that Dorothy Perkins had in months ago. I have had loads of people say how nice it is including a lady on the till in a shop (she asked where it was from so I said Dorothy Perkins- I didn't have the heart to tell her it was Evans!)

I have to come clean and confess that I bought this top on e-bay though! Lately I have been stalking lots of things on e-bay! (I go through phases with e-bay when I search for pretty much everything I want in life on there!)

As for sizing this top is a 22/24 (the only size available) I would say that it is too big and the belt is  most certainly required. Just lately I have dropped about 5 sizes in Evans-  last summer I was buying sz 26's and today I bought a top in an 18! It's pretty much all to do with changes at Evans and not me! Still the recent dual sizing has left me somewhere around the 20 mark as I am finding the 22-24's too big. The elastic on the sleeves is tight, I have managed to get away without cutting it but by way of warning it may be necessary.

Incidentally the hair do I am sporting here is my staple hair style which I can pretty much always be seen wearing. It consists of a bun held up by a pen or pencil- seriously no effort at all! I never wear hair bands which somewhat limits hair styles but reduces split ends drastically! In hot weather its actually a legitimate hairstyle!

Top @ Evans via Ebay

Belt @ New Look (with dress)

Jeans @ Evans

Bag @ M&S

Shoes @ New Look

As for life the universe and everything, my life has been pretty grown up of late, I have been working (giving my job lots of my energy), buying garden furniture and plants, spending quality time with the sky box (including Smash which I am getting quite into) and going on the odd bike ride when its not raining-which it mostly is at the moment!