Outfit: Jelly Shoes!

I think I should have perhaps put that this week I will be mostly wearing either red and purple or new shoes when I was writing that post on Monday. For this is pair number three (and the final pair) of new shoes for the week and I have worn red every day and purple twice so far.

I was thrilled when Shudoo contacted me last week to see whether I would like to try out a pair of shoes from their site. Having been intrigued by the phenomenon that is the Vivienne Westwood Anglomania line for Melissa, I requested a pair of the Lady Dragon Hearts in fuchsia and that is what you see adorning my feet today. I will review them properly tomorrow, once I have worn them for a whole day, but so far, so good and I like them.

With such fabulous shoes a simple black dress was the best way to show them off, and I just added some co-ordinating accessories. I love this dress – it was only about £20 from ASDA back when I’d just started this blog but it has got regular wear over the 4 years I’ve had it and love the shape of the full skirt.

I have been skipping the gym recently in favour of riding my bike (it’s cheaper and allows me to get out in the fresh air and sunshine) and last night I cycled the 9 mile round trip to the next town in search of a lampshade for the spare room. I failed to find one, but had a lovely ride in the sunshine and my legs definitely got a work out. When I got home it was time for caramel shortbread and Gok’s fashion fix – sadly the last in the current series (although it looks like there’s a compilation/revisiting show on next week).

After my shower last night I briefly tried out my new Remington Spin Curl hairdryer for the first time. I didn’t bother to use any styling spray and I didn’t separate out sections of my hair like it tells you to do in the instructions. I was about to go to bed so there was no point spending ages on a blow dry. However, even by just sticking random sections of hair into the spin curl attachment I achieved definite waves and I can see that with a bit of patience (not my strong point!) and by following the instructions a bit more carefully, I could definitely get results from it. I did my usual putting my hair in a ponytail to sleep but the band snapped during the night (those snag free hair elastics are rubbish!) so I don’t know how much of today’s wave is residue from the spin dry and how much from sleeping with it tied up.

Wow, that was a long post! Guess I had a lot to say this morning.

Black dress – George at ASDA
Purple tank – New Look Tall
Purple and red shoes – Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa (Shudoo) (gifted)
Red and cream bangles – gifted
Purple flowers necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Purple and silver bangles – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted
Red belt – Next
Diamante hair slide – Babyliss (Boots)

Total Est. Cost £38

Outfit: Ruby (New) Shoesday

This outfit is inspired by my friend Amber. I have seen dresses everywhere that are a navy skirt attached to a stripy top, and I think Amber has one. I don’t have such a dress and tempted as I was to buy one at the weekend, I think all the ones I have seen would be a bit short on me for work. So I have improvised. I already have a navy dress (another reason not to buy another one) and I already have [del]a[/del] several stripy tops. A bit of tucking to make the dress into a skirt and Bob’s-my-father*, I have a dress like I wanted! Add a wide belt to cover the join (just like Gok would do) and no one is any the wiser. Except for you, now that I’ve told you what I’ve done.

So, the shoes. Over the weekend I decided a low wedge would be nice, just to give me a bit of lift when I’m wearing short-shorts. I decided red canvas wedges would be just the job. I saw a pair I liked on the Next website and when my local store didn’t have any in, I went home to order them online. Of course they were sold out in my size. I went to a store near work yesterday and discovered that my size are sold out everywhere in the local vicinity. Sometimes even a shoe queen has to know when to give up so I went down the road to Brantano. What I ended up with are not canvas but they were so comfy when I walked around the shop in them (and the back strap didn’t feel like it was about to ping off my heel as usually happens to me with sling backs) that I bought them. The platform at the front makes them only feel like a small heel to me and the sole is so squishy that I am hopeful I will be able to walk the same kind of distances in them as I can in flat shoes. I will be putting this theory to the test at lunchtime if it doesn’t start pouring with rain again as it looks like it’s about to do.

Navy cardi – Next Tall
Cream and navy tank – River Island
Navy tank – River Island
Navy dress (worn as skirt) – Next
Red wedges – Orchard (Brantano)
Red belt – mall market stall
Blue bead bracelet – gifted
Navy heart necklace – Scope
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £80


*My dad actually is called Bob, so it doesn’t make any sense to me to say “Bob’s your uncle”. Unless, of course, I’m talking to one of my cousins.

Sarenza Contest Entry

Here is my official contest entry picture. Sarenza are a new site (and accompanying blog) that are bringing continental shoes brands to the UK. My favourite is the Buffalo brand and that is the range from which I picked my shoes. These are the Sixtina style in fuchsia.

Once the contest entries go live I will let you know how to vote for me, and I would really appreciate your support in helping me to win a trip to Paris.

This Week I Will Be Mostly...

...wearing dresses
...reading magazines
...watching Mary Queen of Shops and Gok’s Fashion Fix
...listening to songs featuring steel drums
...eating caramel shortbread
...shopping for red wedges

Outfit: Sarenza Contest

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Sarenza offering me a pair of shoes to style up and then enter a contest to win a shopping weekend in Paris. Free shoes and the chance to win a weekend in Paris? I’m in! The actual post for my contest entry will follow later today, but here is a sneak preview of the shoes and my outfit. The shoes have fabulous red soles and a red lining so the natural choice was to wear purple and red with them.

Purple dress – Dorothy Perkins (eBay)
Red belt – mall market stall
Purple shoes – Buffalo London (Sarenza) (gifted)
Silver bling ring – River Island
Silver bangle – gifted
Red beads – eBay
Red flower clip – unknown (my friend bought them for my sister’s hen do)
Red and cream bangles – gifted

Total Est. Cost £26

Outfit: Match Day

I got up late-ish and made some caramel shortbread. The young man went and bought us a proper BBQ and I popped out to M&S Food for some posh burger, bread and beer. A friend came over this afternoon for drinks and a BBQ in the sunshine and it was lovely. We didn’t watch the football but kept checking on the score. We were disappointed but not surprised by the outcome. Looks like I can put my rosette away for a couple of years until Euro 2012 (assuming we qualify that is!).

Red and white stripe tank – River Island
White tank – Topshop
Denim shorts – George at ASDA
Pewter jewelled sandals – New Look
Silver cross necklace – gifted
Red & cream bangles – gifted
Silver bling ring – River Island

Total Est. Cost £34

Outfit: Navy Saturday

Last night we headed out to meet a friend and go to a local pub where a steel band was playing. It was fantastic! Seriously, it was the best night out in a long time. The band were awesome, and by the end of the night people were dancing. The gig was in the pub car park but it was very warm and a brilliant night. I love steel bands. When I was five I was in my hometown’s carnival for the first time and right behind my school’s float in the procession was a steel band. I think I have loved them ever since.

Today I went to an outlet mall. I was looking for some curtains for the spare room, which I got, and I got some dishes to add to my growing collection of Denby crockery too. I also got some jeans and some shorts in the Next Clearance store.

This afternoon, after hanging the curtains, I went over to my sister’s house for a barbeque. We had to dodge the occasional rain shower, but we managed to get the food cooked outside, albeit with the help of my brother-in-law’s large fishing umbrella.

Navy dress – Next
Navy tank – River Island
Navy & white stripe shoes – New Look
Sunglasses – Claire’s
Bracelet – gifted
Silver bling ring - River Island
Silver cross necklace - gifted

Total Est. Cost £61

Outfit: Casual Friday

Just a simple tank, crops and shrug combo for casual Friday. Miraculously, the good weather is holding and it promises to be warm again today.

I did get to cycle to church last night. I am loving having a bike – it not only saves me a bit of petrol, but gets me some exercise too.

This evening I plan to bake caramel shortbread.

Purple shrug – made from a thrifted top
Purple tank – New Look Tall
Crop jeans – New Look
Purple flats – gifted
Purple flowers necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Purple bangles – Diamonds & Pearls
Purple/pink/silver bangles – gifted

Total Est. Cost £29

Outfit: Vivienne Tam

I received a surprise package in the mail yesterday from Hewlett Packard. It contained a hardback notebook (an actual paper notebook, not the mini laptop kind!) and a scarf, both featuring a lovely butterfly design by Vivienne Tam that HP have been using on their products recently. I was already planning to wear this skirt today so decided to incorporate the scarf as part of the outfit too. As it is a long oblong shape, I thought it would work well as a belt – it’s a bit warm for scarves at the moment anyway! Various shades of pink and the orangey thread in the jacket completed the look.

I have choir practice at church this evening and if the weather stays dry, I will ride my bike there and back.

Pink jacket – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Pink cami – Marks and Spencer
Cream and black skirt – Matalan
Scarf (as belt) – Vivienne Tam for HP (gifted)
Pink shoes – Nine West (Debenhams)
Pink bangles – gifted
Cream bracelets – Diamonds & Pearls
Pink necklace – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £56

Don't Forget About Formspring!

I'll put a link in the sidebar too so it's permanently available.

Outfit: Footballing Wednesday

Today is the day that England get knocked out of the World Cup hopefully get through to the next round, so a little red and white patriotism was in order. I don’t have an England shirt but I was given this rosette as part of my secret Santa gift at the end of show week and today seemed a perfect opportunity to wear it. Yes these are the same shoes as yesterday. I felt this outfit needed heels and these are the only open red shoes I own. The shrug and bangles are a repeat of yesterday too. What can I say? When I’m showing a lack of imagination, I’m showing a REAL lack of imagination!

Red shrug – New Look Tall
Red and white stripe tank – River Island
White tank – Topshop
Denim skirt – made from a dress
Red belt – mall market stall
Red wedges – New Look (charity shop)
Silver bangles – Scope
Red glitter bangles – Primark
Silver bling ring – River Island
Red beads – eBay
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £47

Interview on Qype.com

In the second piece of exciting news of the day: I have been interviewed for the Qype community blog! You can read the full interview here.

And The Winner Is...

The winner of the CSN contest is...


4 = project55statusongoing

Congratulations! Drop me an email on the address at the side and I’ll pass your email on to CSN so they can get your gift certificate out to you!

Shoegal Featured in Online Fashion 100!

Browsing through my @ replies on Twitter just now, I got a lovely surprise when I saw a tweet from my friend Gemma congratulating me on being named on the #OF100. Having no idea what that was, I did a bit of digging and it turns out that my blog has been included in the Online Fashion Agency’s list of bloggers, retailers and journalists. This is what they said about Shoegal:

Shoegal is the Style Blogger with a taste for high street value. With many prominent fashion blogs focusing on cutting edge London centric trends, Shoegal is a refreshing browse and arguably more reflective of the shopping tastes, trends and habits of British women.

To view the full list of 100, click here.

Outfit: Ruby Shoesday

I remembered! Red shoes all the way today. It’s warm and sunny again so another flouncy skirt and tank top is the perfect combination.

I was thinking last night about how much more effort women have to put into their appearance than men. Think about it. For me to wear what I am wearing today, I had to go through several thought processes/checks and rectifying beauty routines where necessary.

1. Strappy sandals – are my toes in a reasonable state to be on view? –> No –> touch up toenail polish
2. Bare legs – have I epilated/shaved and tanned? In this case my answer was yes, but that would be two more tasks if the answer had been no.

For men it doesn’t matter. They can put on shorts and sandals at the drop of a hat and not have to bother about the state of their legs or pedicure.

Red shrug – New Look Tall
White tank – Long Tall Sally
Red and white spotted skirt – New Look Tall
Red wedges – New Look (charity shop)
Red beads – Ethel Austin
Silver cross – gifted
Silver bangles – Scope
Red glitter bangles – Primark
Silver belt – Primark

Total Est. Cost £62