Dorothy got nothin' on me

Haven't worn these since last year, they're adorable! They are from Irregular Choice (one of my very favourite shoe brands, everything they make is interesting and exciting) and they have a tiny heel, leopard print inside and they will be paired with turn up jeans, a collared shirt and a red bandana in my hair or worn as a neck-tie. Think Rizzo in Grease.

Hey boy, Hey girl

The last week has been the sunniest of the year so far, amazing considering it was raining enough to keep the Kalahari as a cottage-garden a week before. Just in time for the annual 'Oldboys Game' of American Football, where the Uni alum come back and play the current team. As ex-uni cheerleaders, a couple of us usually try and go along and cheer them on, unfortunately this year only a few of us could make it so we took a picnic and sunbathed instead. It was really nice to see people again, the weather was gorgeous and our picnic was epic. This is what I wore:


Sheer fabric sleeveless shirt (very see through but the print makes it ok to wear without a vest on underneath). I didn't think I would like this, it's a bit bold for me, but it's light and airy and was fine paired with the shorts.


Navy blue soft jeans shorts, from George at ASDA. They are SO comfortable.


Blue gingham VANS lace-ups.


Accessories: Flower anklet, leather bracelets, tortoise-shell look sunglasses.

Bow down

Delicious deliveries: Today my bowties arrived (ebay purchase), they're silky smooth and perfect, can't wait to wear them! I'm especially in love with the Harlequin one, but I think it'll have to go on a plain black shirt so that it gets pride of place.


Bow ties remind me of... Huckleberry Hound, old teddybears, George Lamb, The Cat in the Hat, Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx, Poirot and old-school Vampires. 

Me casa, es su casa

So we did go to town for a bit of shopping (mostly Birthday presents for other people) and then popped through the little green door of Leicester's 'Casa Romana' which is a secret little Italian place that does GREAT seafood. Yes I know we're about the most inland you could possibly be, but those scallops were to die for, and I know good scallops (once scuba-dived for my own in Scotland - no more than 30mins out of the water and into my tummy). We sat outside on their little terrace in the sunshine and had a really lovely night, and this is what I wore:


Blue and white zigzag stripe dress (it has a V-cut front and back, is really lightweight and sort of baggy capped sleeves... bit hard to explain). Can't remember where this was from though :-/


Navy long open front cardigan (the kind without buttons) which is super-thin and fine for this weather.


Denim-look leggings turned up mid-calf height, it was just too hot today to wear real jeans and anyway when you're wearing a dress it's weird to see a lumpy button section underneath. I have a feeling they were from George at ASDA actually...


Dr. Martens white T-bar Mary-Janes, I LOVE these shoes so much (in fact I also have them in black) but as you may know Docs are notoriously hard to wear in, especially for someone who changes shoes on a bi-daily basis... I've had them about 6 years or so but they're in absolutely perfect condition still.


Accessories - 
Brown saddle bag that Alex bought me for Christmas, I use this alllll the time.


Totoro mini-purse, attached to my bag. This was from HongKong Ebay, Totoro is awesome but the inside space of the purse is so small it's pretty much redundant. It's still cute though.


Matchstick necklace, key necklace (both ASOS) Jack Wills navy wristband.

Sun is shining, Weather is sweet...

This smashing weather seems to have turned the entire population of Britain red like lobsters in only two days so I'm pacing myself a bit, hoping that it's going to last out for the festivals and important outdoor stuff (weddings etc) this summer. I'm enjoying getting out the floaty dresses, shorts and chiffon at the moment as I've lost a bit of weight and some stuff fits me a bit better - like this dress!


It's a butterfly print maxi with an underlay and then chiffon over the top. It's steeply V-cut at the front and back and it has a ruched waist that I've covered up with a brown clip belt. 


I really hate the look of that ruching stuff but it does make the dress hang properly. Anyway, I'm having a break from tidying and listening to The Shins before Alex picks me up to go to dinner. Usually I'm a winter person but clearly the sun is a mood-changer, feel all possibility-y and new today.

Alphabetty

Ohhh how I love a quirky print on a classic cut. There's something sort of naughty about having a grown up shirt covered in an unusual print, it's a bit like you've managed to get away with something at school, like having your trainers on or your skirt hiked up. 


I got these about a month ago and I love them dearly! Both from ASOS.


Cream cropped shirt with black collar and red piping button down, with alphabet print.


Blue skinny stretch jeans in alphabet row print.


I've not worn them together yet, but the shirt looks really good with a bow tie. I think I like the alphabet print because of being drawn to writing and poetry, there's something comforting about having words around you all the time. I guess that's why we turned our spare bedroom into a library too!

Bows and Bandanas

Ooooooh, new accessories - skip in my step for these badboys...


Black and white collar - I'll be wearing this to tomboy up summer dresses with bowties or cameo brooches.


Bandanas  - Navy blue, forest green, burgundy and purple. Mostly for the festivals for when my hair is gross but they'll probably sneak their way into other summer outfits too


Silk bows - navy blue and shiny red. I wore the red one last night with a shirt, but they're a bit tricky to add to the collar because of the flexibility. More practice needed...


I'm really into patterns at the moment, but you really have to make sure you don't go all catwalk overboard with them so accessories are a really easy way to use the styles without looking completely mental. I'll be using these to liven up my more subdued days.

Life's a Beach

A few weeks ago we had a quick mini-break at Runswick and this is a photo from when we were exploring the rock-pools. It's really casual (obviously!) but I decided to post because it's made up of items I wear all the time.


Jumper - it has a block geo print on a soft grey jersey loop material, it's a Men's large so it kinda swamps me but I love it. It reminds me of the kind of jumpers we wore at school when I was little.


Cut-off denim skirt - It's a bit big for me now but ok if I wear a belt.


Navy leggings from Jack Wills - honestly the comfiest leggings I've ever bought, they have a flat elasticated waistband so they don't dig into you if you're wearing another waistband over the top (like a skirt or shorts).


Stripe wellies from Joules.


A green quilted, but lightweight gilet from Joules - this has MASSIVE pockets, perfect for beachcombing treasures.


We found a lot of hermit crabs that day and despite it being absolutely f-f-f-freeeezing out there, it was nice. I don't usually let anyone take my picture out there because of the lack of makeup and random collection of clothing, but this one is kind of alright so it'll do!

Summer Ball

Last weekend I went to a ball at the Birmingham Hilton Met, and decided on this super-cute (but fairly short) lilac leopard print skater dress from ASOS. It has a little silk-lined underlayer that makes it stick out a bit and float nicely. I'm also wearing a Jet necklace which was made in Whitby out of jet found on Runswick Bay beach and a thin black belt with a flower on (possibly from Next). I wore a pair of black suede closed toe platform heels as well, nice and plain next to the big print on the dress.


I wasn't at all confident about the hair, but it turned out pretty awesome in the end. I did two side Victory Rolls (having learnt them from a book called Style Me Vintage and a couple of youtube videos) and a front under-curled one, hair-sprayed the hell out of it after I'd pinned it, and stuck in a sparkly curved hair slide that looked a bit tiara-esque. Everyone else at the ball had standard wavy hair down or classic up-do's with their evening dress, so I definitely stood out a bit, but the response was pretty good, mostly people couldn't believe that I'd done my hair myself. Thank you video technology!

Happy Birthday Lil Bro

Last night we went out for my brother's 24th Birthday meal, to a nice pub in Meriden. I decided on:

Blue skinny jeans (turned up at the ankle)

Vans slip on ballet-trainers (white with red hearts on) - I'll get a photo of these soon I promise

Plain white shirt with capped sleeves and an open neck collar

Soft wool stripe round neck jumper from Joules

Black 3/4 sleeve blazer with the sleeve turned up

Red silk bow-tie that I found on ebay, worn loose

Mini harmonica necklace (it really works!) and a key shaped bracelet.

I have a lot of school themed bits and pieces, I particularly love blazers. They add a bit of sleekness to most outfits, be it on top of a tea-dress or a t-shirt. This 3/4 one is made of jersey material so it's not so stiff to wear on a casual night out, plus the turn ups mean that you can see the stripy jumper poking out just a little bit, so that the red theme goes right through the outfit. I took a brown handbag out with me that evening because I didn't have time to swap everything over, but I would have finished this school-look with my black leather satchel if I was wearing it anywhere else, and earlier in the day I had on a pair of red Wayfarer style sunglasses just for an extra splash of colour matching. I think the school obsession comes from reading Enid Blyton books as a child - the characters always seemed to be having a great time at boarding-school and getting up to mischief, plus I'm a big Harry Potter fan and my middle school had 'House Teams' which is a nice Brit-tradition (I was in Davies, the green team). 

However, red is my confidence colour. I used to wear big red statement pieces at college and uni, but haven't really felt bold enough recently. Using it as an accent or theme colour means I can still rock the red, but not as violently as sticking on a block colour. This is a pretty safe outfit, but I like it. 

Welcome

So, everyone has their own personal style and ideas about fashion in this world, and most of them are mashups of personality - like where someone has been and what they've experienced in their life. 

My statements are based on what I love, what I aspire to and places I've been, with an emphasis on the kitsch or fun. It's who I am and how I express myself and my mood without saying a thing. I'll try and explain the reasons behind my outfits with a little background and maybe say where some of the items are from (if I can remember!) hope you enjoy my posts,

DorkDandy xx