September is a bit of a crappy month for parents. You’ve spent pretty much your life savings in Clarks, standing for hours with one of those deli counter tickets, like you’re queuing for cheese without even getting to eat any cheese*, which means nothing left to update your own wardrobe ready for autumn.

Perfect timing then for another competition from Lily & Me.

I’ve written about these guys before, and you know I love their bold patterns, and the thought they put into the quality and cut of their clothes.

Here’s a little sample to give you an idea:

Lily & Me competition discount code View Post

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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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Inspired by Belle’s fashion video, I enlisted her help this afternoon to help me show off my brand new boots from Kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope asked me to choose something that I thought would be versatile in the transition from summer to autumn and I have to admit that these boots weren’t my first choice. They are totally unlike anything I would normally choose, but I absolutely love them. When I put them on, whatever it’s with, I feel awesome. 

Bee looked vaguely disgusted but then she’s 19, what does she know about style?

I normally find shoes and boots really difficult to shop for but these have been really comfortable from day one – not a single blister in sight, even though my first outing in them was a full on sambuca-fuelled dance fest.

What do you think? Where these boots made for walking?

 

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So.

I met this man.

*grins*

I’m not going to tell you anything about him at the moment as he is my Special Secret Thing. I don’t want to ruin it all by having him realise I am the kind of girl who blabs about boys all over the internet, although of course that is exactly what I am. Don’t tell him though.

What I can tell you though is that he is doing funny things to my head. I have found myself thinking about him rather a lot, possibly around 98.6% of the time. Roughly. A friend described me as ‘giddy’. That about sums it up.

One of the side effects of meeting someone new is that you start to look at yourself and your surroundings in a new way, over-analysing every detail. You look at your mismatched crockery and wonder whether it reflects your eclectic interests and thoughts, or if it just makes you look a bit cheap. You look in your underwear draw and physically shudder. An examination of your wardrobe reveals that you are going to be a little stuck after date three, unless your date is really into old jeans and fleeces, and you start feeling the urge to spend money you don’t really have on pretty new things. Pretty new things you can casually brush off as old favourites should said date compliment you.* View Post

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Recently I went to watch Twelfth Night at the Tobacco Factory. My main concern obviously was what to wear. I don’t get out much, especially in the evenings, and for a funky theatre like the Tobacco Factory I wanted something that looked sophisticated, but at the same time a bit like I might have come straight from a studio of some sort, having been working all day on a Very Important Creative Project. I also definitely had to give the impression that I read the Guardian.

The look that I was trying to capture we decided was theatre casual.

To achieve my theatre casual look I turned to Seasalt. Seasalt wouldn’t normally be a brand I would think of, but their range is actually rather beautiful and the winter jumpers currently on offer are decidedly cosy looking. For my trip to the Tobacco Factory I decided to go for: View Post

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Living just off the Gloucester Road in Bristol I am totally spoilt for independent stores. In fact it’s one of the reasons I moved here. I love that when I have a friend’s birthday coming up I know I can walk just five minutes up the road and pick out a present made and sold by a local designer or craftsperson.

I am really happy then this month to be bringing you a competition from The Dressing Room to celebrate Independent Retailer Month. The campaign highlights the important role smaller, local, independent retailers play in the communities they serve, the local economy they contribute to, and in the retail sector as a whole.

According to the Centre for Local Economic Strategies for every £1 that is spent with a local, independent business, between 50p-70p circulates back into that local economy. Buying locally supports local traders, their suppliers and the people they depend on to run their businesses. Buying locally boosts the local economy, rebuilding confidence in the community, enabling local businesses to prosper and grow.

Besides, isn’t it just nicer to know you are supporting a real person, their livelihood and their family, wherever they are, rather than a massive faceless organisation?

In the spirit of all things indie The Dressing Room, an online indie fashion boutique, are giving one of my readers £150 to spend on their gorgeous American Vintage range. The range is full of really stylish but practical pieces in beautiful colours. One of my favourite items is this jacket, called the ‘Fayettville printed pineapple jacket’ because, believe it or not, of all the places in the US, I have actually been to Fayettville! It’s just down the road from where I drank my milkshake.

American Vintage

If you’d like to win £150 to spend on new clothes (obvious question of the day) then just get friendly with the little widget below. The competition will close at the end of Indie Retailer Month on 31st July.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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 no sense of style.

Actually it’s not much of a secret.

As boyfriend said you me recently, looking a little bit afraid in case I hit him, “For quite a lot of the time I have known you you have dressed quite badly.”

He’s such a charmer.

He is right though. I really just have no concept of what looks super stylish and what looks like I have been dressed by a blind tramp. Getting asked by the team at Secret Sales then to style a couple of models in the latest trends was a bit of a challenge to say the least. I was literally given rails of clothes and two beautiful, (if not slightly stick thin), people to hang them on. View Post

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I’ve got Bee here again today, wearing some lovely new clothes…

Its 2008. I’m 12. My much cooler friend Lauren walks into our geography classroom. Instead of the usual tween gossip mag filled with brand new information about the Jonas Brothers, she’s carrying a catalogue.

“It’s the new Joe Browns catalogue”, she says, “It came in the post this morning.”

“Oh yeah, cool” I say, acting like I know what she’s talking about. I then find out that Joe Browns is a super cool clothes website where Lauren gets most of her clothes. Being 12 and spending most of my money on Maltesers I’m not known for my amazing fashion sense. I stare at the catalogue wistfully as Lauren points out all of the things her Mum has agreed to buy her. I imagine that if I owned a t-shirt or even a hair clip from Joe Browns, I’d immediately be transported to the Cornish coast where I would surf, have long blonde windswept hair and listen to Jack Johnson while drinking coconut smoothies with a group of beautiful friends laughing around a camp fire. View Post

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We may still be bundling up in our warmest coats, jumpers, scarves, and mittens, but pretty soon it will be time to shove your woolies to the back of the wardrobe and make space for our spring clothes. Well known as I am for my fashion sense, here are some pieces that are trending for spring:

Bermuda Shorts
Yep, you read that right. Bermuda shorts are apparently trending for spring and summer. View Post

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I have been asked to speak at a conference.

*pause for ‘ooohs!’*

On the 10th of November I will be getting up disgustingly early to go to London for Mumsnet Blogfest to be part of their keynote panel. The theme of the discussion is ‘finding you voice’ – something I don’t normally struggle with – and with me on the panel will be real actual writers like Zoe Williams and Jeanette Winterson.

Real Actual Writers.

*anxious sideways look*

Rather than thinking though about what I might say to appear witty, charming and intelligent, my first thought was ‘what on earth will I wear?’ An elegant, well-tailored outfit, as any woman will tell you, is the key to any occasion. Unfortunately, I am not any woman.

To illustrate my point, I look for Bee. I find her on the sofa, watching TV, sniffing, surrounded by lockets and used tissues.* “If you had to describe my fashion sense in three words,” I ask, “what would you say?”

She looks me up and down and raises her eyebrows.

“Too jazzy,” she starts, but then, realising that means she will have already used up two-thirds of her insults, she begins again. “Jazzy, infantile,” she pauses, struggling to find a word that suitably sums me up, “and uncoordinated.”

Point duly illustrated.

The trouble is that I hate shopping for clothes. I am rubbish at it. Apart from the horror of catching sight of my bottom reflected in four different mirrors simultaneously, I just don’t know what goes with what, and what is appropriate for any given occasion. I thought then that perhaps I could have a little browse online, and you could tell me which outfit would be best for my conference appearance. I want to appear clever and funny, quirky yet stylish.

Dresses are usually a good option, as they eliminate the risk of clashing top and bottom halves. I really like this, (I’m sure I read somewhere that ‘floral’ is a thing), but wonder if it might be a little on the ‘jazzy’ side for a day time conference?

"floral dress"

This could be me, turning up a little late – “Oh, I’m so sorry! My train was delayed! It’s such a hilarious story! Mwahahaha!”

Or I could go for a suit? Perhaps too formal – I’m not sure it screams ‘witty, creative writer.’

Suit

Can you even imagine my thighs in such light coloured trousers? Oh my goodness me no.

Or I could just do the classic jeans and sparkly top combo, but perhaps that’s not quite jazzy enough?

"Jeans"

The jeans are fine, but how on earth do I get my hair to look like that?

Or I could just wear something I own already and rely on my sparkly personality to carry me through?

I’ll get my credit card…

…

*She has a cold, not some sort of fetish.

All images courtesy of Next.

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