As you may have noticed already from earlier blog posts and some of my Instagram posts, I’m a big fan of Lily & Me. Their prints are just gorgeous, the quality and cut is excellent, and they are always very flattering.

The spring/summer collection does not disappoint.

I’ve been rocking a couple of items from the collection over the last few weeks – a beautiful bird print dress and a yellow skirt. Seriously, I just love wearing them – they’re so comfy, but also manage to make you to feel smart and sophisticated, even though you know you could comfortably lie around on the sofa watching repeats of Dinner Date in them. (You know, only if you wanted to. *cough*)

Unfortunately, try as I might to look super cool and stylish in photos, I normally end up looking like an excitable three year who has been shown a lollipop and asked to smile for the camera. Hopefully you get the idea though.

Lily & Me

Lily & Me
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I know there is a What I Wore Sunday or Wednesday or some day of the week, but quite frankly I’m just not organised enough to coordinate my wardrobe like that, and if you ask me to remember what day of the week it was when I wore a particular outfit then it’s just not going to happen.

I do have two new dresses to show you though, and in two different ways as it happens. They are both from my lovely new friends at Lily & Me, and honestly, I’m so happy I discovered them. What I particularly love about the clothes from Lily & Me is how easy they are to wear. All of their fabrics are deliciously soft, and they are designed and cut to be wonderfully flattering, so I’m not left feeling like a heffalump, which is always nice.

The first dress I want to show you is the Dee Brushed Dress in Winter Orchid. It’s £43.50, although you’ll see on their website that they offer 20% off when you follow them on Facebook, so that’s well worth doing. It has a cowl neck and slouch drop pockets, which I love. I’m a big fan of pockets in dresses and skirts.

I wore it recently to go to the theatre, and as we walked there, Belle spotted this fantastic bright blue painted wooden doorway. She clearly has an eye for Instagram. I was wearing the dress with my Cocoon Luxe cape and, to complete the theatre look, a hat I bought in a charity shop for £3 because I thought it made me look sassy.

Lily and Me dress View Post

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It was back in April that I first discovered Lily & Me. We were away for the weekend at Ladram Bay in Devon, and we happened upon the House of Marbles. It was one of those wonderfully random places – a marble museum, tea shop and mini shopping centre all in one, stocking lots of lovely local brands, including Lily & Me.

I was drawn to the Lily & Me rail because of the beautiful patterns and got sucked in by the soft fabrics and gorgeous shapes, which looked like they would be really easy to wear, yet flattering and stylish at the same time. I got in touch, as I was interested in the brand, and discovered that the company is run by a fantastic family team. After some chatting, I paid them a visit last month to their design barn in the Cotswolds and found out all about how Lily & Me came to be, and their plans for the future.

Lily & Me is all about pattern. I met their designer, and learnt about the process behind coming up with new designs and colours for every season. I could reveal secrets about the spring/summer range for next year, but I would have to kill you, and that could get me in trouble. View Post

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It won’t surprise you to hear that for me, the answer is ‘not much’.

This isn’t because I am spending all my cash on the latest fashions for myself, it’s just that spending on clothes generally just isn’t something that really appeals to me. Perhaps if I worked in an office I would feel a bit more motivated, but why would I dress up in a fancy skirt just to sit at home on my own? That would be a bit weird. View Post

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I have been to London twice this week. No matter how many times I go though it still feels like an adventure.

Growing up in a selection of small towns and villages, cities in themselves have always held a fascination  for me – the huge buildings and shops, the hustle and bustle of so many different types of people, so many Actual Proper Things.

London though remains one of my favourite cities. Even just walking through a tube station or crossing the street there is a powerful sense of being part of something bigger – a strange feeling of being important yet at the same time being very tiny.

And everyone is so stylish! Smart black suits and black thick framed glasses jostle for space on the train alongside those men looking effortlessly stylish in jeans, shirts and tweed jackets – the ones who look like they are too wealthy and influential even to need to wear a suit. The click of heels echoes through the underground and smart ladies’ coats, belted around tiny waists, waft Chanel No. 5 at me on every corner.

In my ill-fitting jeans and waterproof mac I feel like I stand out a mile. (Because I do). I may as well open my map out full size on my lap and pop a sign around my neck. ‘I don’t come from here,’ it would say. ‘I am obviously not cool enough to live in London.’

I don’t care though, I revel in it. I stare (carefully of course on the tube) at all the grown up ladies with their glossy hair and lovely shoes and try to guess where everyone is going and has been.

Simple things please us country folk.

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“Seriously,” whispers Bee, looking at me sceptically, “are you really going to let Belle go out like that?”

I look at her, in her pink leggings, which are just that little bit too short, gold striped knitted dress, odd socks and red shoes. It looks alright to me.

I shrug my shoulders innocently, as though it’s out of my hands. I try to make out that I’m actively enabling Belle to use her clothing to express her personality, and that I don’t want to stifle her, but neither of us are convinced.

The truth is that when it comes to kids’ clothes, or clothes generally to be honest, I’m a bit rubbish. I have no real idea of what goes and what doesn’t, and don’t naturally carry off an outfit with effortless grace and elegance, as you can see from this picture of me as a child:

Slummy Single Mummy baby pictures

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Well, given that it turns out the hand sniffing was a bit weird, I thought I’d quickly change the subject to something that shows me a in slightly better light. Let’s just pretend the last post never happened yeah?

So, moving swiftly on…

Last Friday, I had a rather lovely day out, and I went up to London to have a look at the Littlewoods Christmas collection.

Normally I hate shopping – that moment where you catch a glimpse of yourself from behind in a brightly lit changing room is never great for your self-esteem – but it turns out that when I have a professional photographer on hand, and someone to do my hair and make up, it’s really not so bad. Who’d have thought?

Fuelled by a delicious cake selection and glass or two of mulled wine, I threw myself into the occasion, trying on everything I could get my hands on. Here is me working what I like to think of as my high-class hooker look:

Littlewoods review

I actually loved everything about this outfit, particularly the coat. It’s not something I would ever normally wear, but there’s something about it, when you put it on, you just feel lovely, like a friendly bear is giving you a big hug.   View Post

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When Littlewoods asked me to take part in their style challenge, to choose my perfect child-friendly holiday outfit from their women’s clothing range, I felt it only fair to warn them what they were letting themselves in for.

“I’d love to take part,” I said, “but I should probably make it clear upfront that I have no style.”

Sad, but true. I really have no sense of what looks good, and am renowned amongst friends and family for having always had a ‘unique’ dress sense.

“Interesting choice of outfit,” my sister said when I was staying with her recently.

“It’s my Easter outfit!” I replied, beaming. “See? It’s yellow like a chick.”

“It wasn’t really the yellow I was concerned about,” she replied, eyeing my leggings, bright yellow t-shirt and denim ra-ra skirt combination suspiciously.

If I’m going anywhere important I’ll always get Bee to check what I’m wearing. Sometimes it’s immediately clear I’ve gone horribly wrong. “No,” she’ll say, shaking her head pityingly, “just no.”

Other times it’s less certain. “Well… I wouldn’t go out in it, but it looks very you.” I don’t think that is meant as a compliment.

Littlewoods assured me that it would be fine to get help, but I thought perhaps it was time for me to go it alone, so I tried to pick something all by myself. I started in dresses. I like dresses.

Initially I found a rather colourful long pink and purple one that I liked, but I’m guessing it doesn’t really fit with the whole practical/casual beachwear thing.

So I looked a bit more, and found a natty stripy number, which is very me. I thought it might look nice perhaps with some cropped leggings underneath. Wonderfully practical for when I jet off on my child-friendly summer holidays.

Given the British weather though, I thought I should be prepared. So to go with it I’m taking this lovely hat in case it’s sunny and a nice rain coat to protect me from any sudden spring showers.

And that’s me done. I’ll be looking pretty hot don’t you think?

PS I am currently on the short list for the ‘Style’ award in the Brilliance in Blogging Awards. Please take half a minute to cast your vote and tick the Slummy single mummy box.

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