Outfit: Casual Friday

Grey silk & cashmere sweater – Zara
Denim skirt – Tall Girls
Silver belt – Primark
Grey tights – Ethel Austin
Green boots – River Island
Green zig zag scarf – Per Una at Marks and Spencer

Luxuriously Tall

I have reviewed their selection previously and last week I ordered a couple of items from Luxuriously Tall. I ordered Friday morning and I received a confirmation email straight away. The next time I checked my emails I was impressed to find that my order had processed later on Friday (though this may have had something to do with the time difference between me in the UK and the store in Ohio). Just one week later, the items have arrived with me (shipping time quoted was 6-10 days).

I ordered the wrap dress as it was in the 'steals and deals' section, reduced to $30 (about £15), a saving of $128, and a black shirt on clearance for $19.20 (about £9.60), a saving of $12.80. The dress is made of a very soft fabric and has incredibly long sleeves, just what you need when you're as tall as I am! The shirt is actually made by Lee Jeans and although the sleeves are not as long as I'd hoped, they are adequate. All in all, this was a very positive shopping experience and although I think Luxuriously Tall's items are expensive, I will certainly be checking the clearance sections on a regular basis to find that all important bargain!

Marks & Spencer Long & Tall Collection

Marks & Spencer have launched a Long & Tall Collection. It is only available online at present (I don't know whether that will be the case permanently or whether it will go into stores if it sells well) and some items are not available until mid October, but from what I have seen so far, it looks good. The trousers have an inside leg of 36" and there is quite a selection of items to choose from. The prices are very reasonable: I don't think anything is over £40 and you know you're getting quality with Marks and Spencer. And there's free standard delivery at the moment when you spend £30 or more.

Here are my picks of the best of the bunch.


Unfortunately this dress is only currently available in a size 8, but if that suits you, then it's £25.

Red skirt £25

Bootleg Jeans £19.50

Henley ribbed top £12

Each item is only available in the colour shown at present but here's hoping they add to the range once it starts selling well.

Winter Coat

I have just had my winter coat shortened. It used to be full length on me and for that reason I didn’t wear it very much last winter, preferring a knee length style. It was bought at Long Tall Sally meaning the sleeves are long and the waist is a good fit. So rather than donating it to charity and buying a new coat, I have had it shortened to just below the knee and it is like I’ve got a new coat!

Outfit: Black & Tan Thursday

Black cotton rib roll neck sweater – Marks and Spencer
Black & tan check skirt – River Island
Black wool rib tights – Levante at MyTights.com
Tan boots – Faith

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing wrap dresses
…reading my sister’s old Closer magazines
…watching Flying Doctors clips on You Tube. Gotta love that site!
…listening to ABBA
…eating Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate
…shopping at the dressmaker to have my winter coat altered

Outfit: Pattern Dress Wednesday

Feeling better about myself today!
Brown and blue pattern faux wrap dress – Next (charity shop)
White cami – charity shop
Teal/blue tights – Primark
Brown shoes – Roberto Vianni (Debenhams)

How To Spend £100+ in Five Minutes

1. Go to Dorothy Perkins
2. Buy shoes
(Don’t worry, I didn’t! But here’s what I would have got if I had a spare £100):

Blue brogues, £28

Teal patent courts, £25

Green suede, £25

Grey/blue suede, £30

Outfit: Classic Suit Tuesday

I don’t feel too classic in it today though. I don’t know what’s wrong with me at the moment. I know I looked OK yesterday, though the heels could have been higher. Usually I love this suit but today if doesn’t feel right. Perhaps I should have worn a shirt with it rather than the polo. Or shoes rather than boots. I’ll have to try harder to feel like my fabulous self again tomorrow.

Brown pinstripe suit – Long Tall Sally
Beige cashmere v neck sweater – United Colors of Benetton
Cream rib short sleeve polo sweater – New Look
Brown boots – Nine West (Allders)
Necklace – Scope


Edit: I have removed the polo and that has helped me feel a little chic-er (that’s so not a word!).

Outfit: Wet and Rainy Monday

Black wrap dress – Luxuriously Tall
Red cami – New Look
Black Argyle pattern tights – Boots
Red shoes – Barratts
Red bangles – Primark
Red heart necklace – Claire’s

Outfit: Dark, Wet and Rainy

These boots are supposed to be protecting me from the rain, but I think the soles need fixing cos it feels like they’re leaking a bit.

Grey silk & cashmere sweater – Zara
White & black top – M&S (refashioned by me)
Dark jeans – Gap
Black boots – Arturo Chiang (Century 21)

Outfit: Black and Blue Thursday

It’s sunshine and showers today so not so warm, and the sky is a mixture of black and blue too!

Black & blue dress – Dorothy Perkins
Black polo neck – Long Tall Sally
Black tights – Silkies mail order
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue heart pendant - Scope

Outfit: Grey & Pink

I don’t think the picture does just to the tights. They are VERY pink!

Grey cashmere cardi – Marks & Spencer (ebay)
Grey wool rib polo neck sweater – chain store seconds shop
Grey wool skirt – Gap
Pink tights – Jonathan Aston at MyTights.com
Grey shoes – New Look (charity shop)

Auf Deutsch Bitte!

For some reason Blogger has decided to speak to me in German! Is it doing this to anyone else?

Outfit: Autumnal Tuesday

It’s lovely and sunny again but there’s that distinct Autumn chill in the air which I just love. I’ve put up a picture of the dress from when I bought it (for all of 99p I think), so you can see it a bit more clearly. I’ve put in a dart under each arm now so it fits better.

Purple dress – Charity shop
Black sweater – Dorothy Perkins
Grey tights – Ethel Austin
Silver belt – Primark
Grey boots – Ethel Austin

Changing Room Limits

Don’t you hate stores with a ‘6 items in the changing rooms’ policy? It’s nonsense because what if you need multiple sizes due to the high street’s erratic sizing policy? What if you’re shopping on your own so can’t go back and change things for a different size? What if there’s not a member of staff around to help you with finding alternative sizes? What if there’s two very similar styles on the same rack, there is a sales assistant available, but she brings you the wrong one back? With stores ever increasing in size and amount of stock, it’s not practical to send someone running off to find another size for you. It would be far easier to gather up everything you want to try on in one go, and then be allowed past the changing room assistant to try it all on. Chances are, the more you try on, the more likely you are to buy something, it’s a basic rule of probability. Makes good business sense really.

Trying on Clothes at LTS

I spent a lovely afternoon in Leeds yesterday, wandering round the shops, and trying things on. Long Tall Sally was quiet so I was able to take plenty of items into the changing rooms (see my rant above about changing room policies) and had a great time. As good as the website it, it’s worth venturing to a store if you have one nearby, as there were some pieces to be found on the sale rail no longer available online, and some new pieces not yet available online. One of these was a bright red knitted polo neck dress.

The other items I tried were as follows:

Blue smock top (in the sale, seam too high on the front to be flattering on me)

Coral dress (in the sale, too flimsy to wear over sweaters for winter, not the right colour for me to save for next summer, no longer online)

Black polo neck sweater (loved this)

Black knitted dress (loved this too)

Grey cardi (loved it but already have many grey items in my wardrobe. If it gets reduced in a few months though…)

Green top (reduced as 2 of the buttons had come off. A third one came off as I was trying it on and another looked like it was on it’s way off)

Wanted: Blue & Black Knit Dress from M&Co

This is down to £15 (from £30) in the tall range at M&Co and it’s fantastic! I’ve not been to an M&Co store that stocks the Tall range yet, I’ll have to venture to my nearest one at some point (it’s in a town that I don’t know though), and see what the lengths are like in sleeves and tops. I know the leg lengths are too short for me at 35” inside, but if you’re not quite as tall as me but find ‘longer length’ trousers too short in other stores, this could be your answer.

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing warm clothes – autumn is officially here!
…reading Vogue magazine
…watching Flying Doctors on DVD, my all time favourite TV series
…listening to the young man complaining about the wooden acting on Flying Doctors, and ignoring him as it’s fabulous
…eating apple crumble and custard
…shopping my closet for all my autumn/winter clothes – the time has come to switch over my summer things for my warmer clothes, a fun task for tomorrow night

Outfit: Chilly Monday

It was just 9˚C out this morning so I’m glad I put on a sweater as well as a jacket. I had to go back into the house to add a scarf too as it was so cold. The scarf is blue (matches my shoes) and very soft and fluffy. I got it at Matalan a few weeks back for about 75p!

Brown linen jacket and trousers – Dorothy Perkins
Blue v neck sweater – Florence + Fred at Tesco
White slash neck top – Tall Girls
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue & silver bangles – Oxfam

Outfit: Casual Friday

This outfit started as the top picture. But then when I opened the curtains this morning I saw it had rained and decided it might not be so warm out, so I added the cardi. It’s warmed up enough to ditch it now.
I didn’t know what shoes to wear with this so I thought the bright pink would be a nice contrast.

Turquoise t-shirt dress – Charity shop
Jeans – Zara
Turquoise sequin belt – Avon (Christmas present)
Pink shoes – Faith
Black long cardi – Next

Outfit: Warm Thursday

At least, I hope it’s going to be warm. It’s hard to judge at 7am when it’s still chilly out. But every other day this week has heated up and been warm.

Black & cream stripe dress – charity shop
Teal shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
Teal shoes – Matalan
Teal/green scarf (worn as belt) – Marks and Spencer

Outfit: Sunny Wednesday

This has to be the cheapest outfit I’ve ever worn! The dress cost me 99p and the shoes were £2.50. And the cami must have been on 2 for £7 or £8. In fact the tights are the most expensive item I’m wearing so all in all, the whole outfit cost no more than £12.

Teal pattern dress – Florence + Fred (charity shop)
Maroon cami – Topshop
Teal tights – Jonathan Aston at MyTights.com
Maroon shoes – Matalan

Outfit: Grey & Teal – the Next Thing in Fashion!

It didn’t occur to me until I was dressed that my whole outfit practically was from Next. And I usually say that I don’t find much I like in Next. The lovely ladies at my old office gave me Next vouchers when I left though and I used those to buy the blouse and tank. That was 2 years ago almost girls, can you believe it?!

Grey city shorts – Next
Teal v neck tank – Next
Teal & black pattern crinkle blouse – Next
Grey tights – Ethel Austin
Teal shoes – Matalan
Silver belt – Primark
Silver bangles – Scope

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing a warm sweater for choir practice – the church is freezing
…reading the October issue of Cosmopolitan
…watching Hollyoaks
…listening to the young man playing his mp3s at full volume using his new toy – a wireless transmitter from the laptop to the hi-fi
…eating pork with apple sauce
…shopping for shoes at Matalan

Outfit: Blue Monday

Excuse the random patch of light on my eye there!

Brown linen skirt – Dorothy Perkins
Brown linen jacket – Dorothy Perkins
Blue v neck sweater – Florence + Fred @ Tesco
Brown scarf – charity shop
Blue & silver bangles - Oxfam

Brown tights - Dorothy Perkins

Brown boots - Nine West (Allders)

Outfit: High Waisted Skirt

Electric blue blouse – Dorothy Perkins
Denim skirt (refashioned from a pair of jeans) – Topshop

Brown belt - Dorothy Perkins
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue & silver bangles – Oxfam

More Matalan

Do you know, I think I could easily develop an addiction to shopping at Matalan. Known for their lack of organisation and general dishevelment (though not as jumble sale-like as Primark can get), my local store appears to have had a make over. I took a trip there at lunchtime the other day and was heartened to find a tidy and inviting store. I couldn’t decide what had actually changed, but the store felt light and airy like I don’t remember it before. The shoes were on the shelves, in pairs, and with plenty of choice for size. It was quiet and an altogether pleasant shopping experience.

So what would I recommend buying? Well, in the absence of an online shopping facility (come on Matalan, time to sort that out), pictures will be limited, but take a look at the shoes. In addition to the pair I am wearing today (priced at a mere £14), there are some lovely bright teal T bars available though the price of these is anyone’s guess as there were no tags attached to any of them.

These lampshade dress coats are just £25, and predictably, I just love the blue one.

The website lists these dresses as being £8, but I’m sure they were down to £4 in store.

And if you’re looking for a cheap foray into the shoe boot trend, these would be a good start at £14.

A more traditional style with button detail is £20.

Wanted: New Season Buys from Tall Girls

How cute is this dress?! It’s £38 from Tall Girls and comes in brown, black, grey or white.

And I’ve yet to spot any high waisted jeans on the high street that have long enough legs for me. Could these be the answer at £45?

Outfit: More Red and Black!

Taking inspriation from Queen Michelle over at Kingdom of Style, I bought some red tights and this is their first outing. Since they only cost £1 from Primark it I decided it wouldn't matter if I didn't wear them very often as they're quite bold. But I really like them!

Black cardi - Long Tall Sally

Black & white houndstooth top - Dorothy Perkins

Black patent belt - Dorothy Perkins

Black skirt - Long Tall Sally

Red tights - Primark

Black patent shoes - Matalan

Outfit: Red and Black

Black dress - George@ASDA

Red belt - Market stall

Black shrug - unknown

Black Argyle pattern tights - Boots

Red shoes - Barratts

Outfit: Red & Grey

Grey city shorts – Next
White rib tank – Topshop
Red faux-wrap sweater – George @ ASDA (charity shop)
Grey tights – Ethel Austin
Grey ankle boots – Ethel Austin
Red heart pendant – Claire’s Accessories
Red glitter bangles – Primark

Outfit – Back to School!

So it’s my first day back at work after my 2 week break and I feel like I’ve been away for ages!

Grey city shorts – Next
Black cotton rib sweater – Gap
White rib cami – Topshop
Black fishnets – George at ASDA
Black & cream shoes – Next (charity shop)

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing more autumnal wear since it’s September
…reading The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson
…watching The Queen that I taped last night
…listening to Amy MacDonald’s album
…eating Dairy Milk ice creams
…shopping my closet for autumn ideas

Matalan Purchases

I’m back! I did a little more shopping during my 2 weeks off and here are the best buys.

Shoes, £2.50 Matalan

Bag (it's grey, honest!), £4 Matalan

I also stocked up on gloves and scarves as they were all in the sale for aroung 75p!