Outfit: Neutral Friday

I am flagging a bit following my string of late nights and am looking forward to a lie in tomorrow morning. The show is going well so far. Last night’s only hiccup was the stage lights going out at the start of Act 2 and having to use the house lights until the problem was resolved.

It has turned cooler and rain was forecast for today so I brought my trusty boots out again.

Grey cardi – New Look Tall
Black & oatmeal stripe top – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Jeans – River Island (eBay)
Brown cowboy boots – New Look
Silver bling ring – River Island
Silver & cream bead cluster – New Look
Silver & diamante necklace – gifted
Brown wood earrings – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £84

Shawl Giveaway

Want to win a fab shawl from Seville in Spain? Then head on over to The Small Fabric of My Life to enter!

Outfit: Home Working

So, I decided I would do an outfit shot after all. I am working from home today which is great as it meant I could pop out and do the Tesco shop on my lunch break and gives me more time this afternoon to get ready.

I saw this denim jacket in my wardrobe and knew I wanted to wear it today. I couldn’t bring myself to do double denim so I paired it with a dress and leggings.

Denim jacket – Warehouse
Floral dress (shortened) – Long Tall Sally
Blue top – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Black leggings – New Look Tall
Tan boots – Barratts
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £98

Shoegal Flashback

There may or may not be an outfit post today so in the meantime, here's a flashback to what I was wearing this time last year.

Outfit: Casualisation of a Dress

I got this dress on eBay just before Christmas and as I never have anywhere to wear it, I decided to casualise it (and make up words whilst I was at it) for work. I admit that this idea was shamelessly stolen from Jentine over at My Edit who rocked a similar look a couple of days ago.

Show week is getting to me as I forgot to put on any jewellery before I took my pictures this morning. We are not allowed to wear jewellery (except for the turquoise bits I have on with my floral skirt but that is unusual) for the show so I get used to leaving the house each night without any. Consequently that then feels natural in the mornings. Once I remembered I added teal and silver bangles and a teal jewelled necklace.

I wasn’t sure whether this would work but I really like it and can see myself trying this dress out with other tops underneath it. Now all I have to do is try not to get chocolate on it like I did my skirt yesterday.

Black dress – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Plaid shirt – Primark
Teal belt – Claire’s
Teal wedges – Matalan
Teal necklace – Scope
Teal and silver bangles – Accessorize

Total Est. Cost £43

Outfit: Show Costumes!

I remembered my camera last night so here, as promised, are pictures of my two costumes from the show. At the beginning we are all natives of a tropical island, hence the flower garlands and bright colours. The young man’s mum made my skirt for me – she is a talented seamstress and when the ladies chorus was asked to make our own skirts, I knew just where to turn. We are wearing ballet shoes as an alternative to the bare feet the producer wanted.

White top – QS
Wrap skirt – made by the young man’s mum
Ballet shoes – So Danca
Turquoise necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Turquoise earrings – gifted
Turquoise flower - Claire's
Flower garlands – provided by the society

There is a scene in Act 2 where we are all presented at a kind of debutante ball and that is where the red and black dress comes in. I have a black vest top underneath as the top and skirt of the ‘dress’ don’t meet at the back due to my height. My friend is on constant watch to make sure the vest isn’t showing at the front. We are supposed to look uncomfortable in the dresses as we are island natives, not used to formal dress, so perhaps it helps that some of the costumes don’t fit as well as they might.

Ball gown – Ian Stead costumes
Black character shoes – So Danca

Outfit: Nautical Airways?

Opening night went pretty well last night. There won’t be pictures of my evening outfits as they are just jeans, a tank, zip hoodie and flats. I am doing the unthinkable (for me) and leaving the house with no make up only eye make up and concealer on. The foundation I wear on stage is several shades darker than my regular one so I wait until I get to the theatre to put it on. Along with the excessive amounts of blusher and bright red lipstick we wear. I have no shame however, in leaving the theatre in the dark and travelling home still in full stage make up.

I will endeavour to get some pictures of my costumes in the next day or two, though this relies upon me remembering to take my camera with me to the theatre, something I didn’t manage yesterday.

Today I feel very nautical, but also a little like I could work for an airline. I think it’s the Chris Randall scarf. I did remember that it’s Ruby Shoesday and wore red shoes.

Navy and cream stripe top – New Look Tall (eBay)
Blue cami – New Look
Navy skirt – Long Tall Sally
Red shoes – Next
Scarf – charity shop
Silver earrings – gifted
Blue ring – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £46

Review: John Frieda Frizz-Ease Shape and Shine Flexible Hold Hair Spray

I think I may have finally found a replacement for my beloved Trevor Sorbie hairspray that was discontinued last year. This is a non-areosol hairspray that has a lovely fruity scent. It is a non-sticky formula which does not make your hair go crispy. It even contains a sunscreen. What more could a girl ask for?

Frieda Frizz-Ease Shape and Shine Flexible Hold Hair Spray can be bought at Boots for £4.89.

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing my show costumes
…reading the May issues of Lucky and US Glamour magazines
…watching TV on catch-up as I’m out every night at the theatre
…listening to the tunes from the show rattling around in my head
…eating sandwiches
…shopping for nothing, I won’t have time!

Outfit: From the Inspiration Calendar

Once again I was stuck last night for an outfit idea so I turned to Kimberley’s Inspiration Calendar. It said black dress with red and white so I plumped for a white cardi and a red belt. The usual footwear option would have been red shoes, but as tomorrow is Ruby Shoesday and I will be wearing red then, I decided to go for white instead. These are my show shoes from last year so it seems quite appropriate to be wearing them during show week.

White cardi – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Black dress – George at ASDA
Red cami – New Look
White shoes – Priceless Shoes
Red belt – mall market stall
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £55

Review: Bare Minerals Correct and Brighten

Worried that my Touche Eclat was running out, I was thinking of purchasing some more when I read a review of Bare Minerals Correct and Brighten in Elle magazine. The writer said that the Well-Rested under-eye formula was as good as any other she’d tried and that she was yet to get a blemish that the concealer couldn’t cover. I decided that as Touche Eclat is quite pricey anyway, I’d pay a little bit more and get the concealer thrown in.

I cannot tell you how glad I am that I did this. I absolutely LOVE the concealer. Bare Minerals call it a miracle concealer and they are right. You would not think that a powder would do a better job than a liquid but I can tell you that it does. And it does not budge. At all. It lasts all day and even through a gym class.

The Well-Rested under-eye formula is great too but I will definitely buy this again for the concealer alone.

£22 gets you a pot of each of the Well-Rested and concealer, plus a mini brush with which to apply the products.

Notice

mandi_b please contact me by 12 noon UK time on Monday 26th April or I will re-draw the SATC tour tickets competition.

Outfit: Sunny Saturday

Having got back late from rehearsal last night, I had a bit of a lie in. I did some chores this morning – washing, cleaning the bathroom, then spent most of the afternoon in the garden in the sunshine reading ‘Della Says OMG!’ by my fabulous friend, Keris Stainton. So far, I am loving it. Go buy a copy here!

I am loving layering my tanks at the moment. If gives a bit more modesty to an almost see through white one whilst allowing a bit of colour or another neutral to peep through. These jeans are my falling-to-bits Gap Long and Leans – I knew I wasn’t going out anywhere today so I kept them on all day.

I managed to have my eyes closed on all the pictures with my hat on – this was the best of a bad bunch!

White tank – Topshop
Grey tank – Cherokee at Tesco
Jeans – Gap
Turquoise flip flops – Primark
Silver cross necklace – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted
Sunglasses – Claire’s
Hat – Oasis

Total Est. Cost £84

Review: Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Volume Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo is a marvellous invention that allows those of us short on time to skip a hairwash now and then. Whilst I don’t believe that dry shampoo will ever be as effective as actually washing your hair, it does let me go a second day without washing my hair. I usually have to wash it everyday. The Trevor Sorbie one is definitely the best dry shampoo I have tried and leaves my hair looking a darn sight better than it did when I got out of bed. I’m not so sure about the beautiful volume part, but that’s not why I bought it.

Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Volume Dry Shampoo is available at Boots for £4.99

Outfit: Overcast Friday

Another rehearsal last night and I got home late again. Somehow I managed to set my alarm clock for the right time but PM instead of AM. Fortunately I woke up only about 10 minutes after it would have gone off so I wasn’t late. I was glad I had laid out a simple outfit for today though. This is pretty much a copy of what I wore on 1st April but with red accessories rather than blue. I added my grey moto jacket and cream scarf to go out as it is still rather chilly in the mornings.

Grey waistcoat – Long Tall Sally
Grey stripe top – Dorothy Perkins
Jeans – River Island
Red shoes – Next
Red beads – eBay
Red glitter bangles – Primark
Red & cream bangles – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £76

Outfit: Sunny Thursday

I make no apology for the amount of pictures in this post and the previous one. For the past few weeks I have been struggling to take pictures I actually like but now my mojo seems to be back!

We really are enjoying the nicest weather this week. And I think I may have a new favourite colour in navy blue.

The cardi arrived from Next on Monday and thanks to the gift card I received for my birthday it will only cost me £6.

I put my skinny jeans on initially but they had toothpaste or something else white on the leg so I threw them in the wash basket and grabbed these instead. And I’m actually glad I did, I really like the look of them with this outfit. I can see this look becoming a summer staple, with the jeans switched up for a denim skirt when it gets warmer.

Navy cardi – Next Tall
Navy & cream stripe tank – River Island
Blue cami – New Look
Navy star print scarf – Dorothy Perkins
Jeans – River Island
Navy patent shoes – Magrit (Outlet mall)
Navy heart necklace – Scope
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £105