Outfit: Thursday

Today dawned rainy, which wasn’t forecast yesterday, but it looks to be brightening up a bit now. I hope so as I hate doing the Tesco shop in the rain.

This shirt was a little snug on me last summer but I kept it anyway as I love the shape and colour of it. I’m glad I did because it fits again now (just about – I may have applied a little fashion tape between some of the buttons to prevent gaping) and I hope to get some more wear out of it this summer. It has little puffy short sleeves and is very fitted.

A reader asked me for tips on how I wear heels all day. Well the secret is that I have an office job so I don’t do a lot of walking around in my heels. I keep a pair of flats under my desk in case I decide to walk to the shop at lunchtime. On days when I know I will be walking around a lot you will notice that I am either in flat boots (those tan ones from Barratts are particularly comfortable), flat shoes or my wedge boots which are comfy enough for a shopping trip to the city. The only time I will wear heels when I know I will be on my feet a lot is for a party or wedding reception. On Saturday night last week I was dancing and standing around in my very high black boots (which are reasonably comfy considering the heel height) for about 7 hours. By the time I got home I was ready to take my boots off (my feet were aching from being in heels all night), but because I had chosen them wisely I had no burning in the balls of my feet. So in summary, I sit down most of the day at work and wear flats if I know I’ll be walking a lot. Heels can be comfy so try to find a pair that work for you and then stick with them.

Navy cardi – Next Tall
Blue shirt – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Denim skirt – J Jasper Conran (Debenhams)
Grey and blue shoes – Vivienne Westwood for Melissa (eBay)
Blue necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £92

Outfit: Out For Tea

I went to the local Wetherspoon’s for tea last night, to celebrate a birthday of one of the drama group. The food wasn't bad - I had the all day brunch and jam roly poly with custard - and it's cheap so it's all good.

This sweater is an eBay bargain and arrived this week. It’s from Long Tall Sally. I was trying to figure out from how long ago last night – the label has the block capitals logo in pink so it’s a good five years at least I would say, as they’ve have 2 other logos since then. It’s a perfect fit though (and it’s a size Small which is 10-12 so I’m quite chuffed) and goes great with jeans.

Blue jacket – H&M
Navy sweater – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Jeans – South at Very.co.uk (gifted)
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Silver cross necklace – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £46

Review: L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Fresh Feel Gel

Last week my friend recommended Sublime Bronze Fresh Feel gel as a self tanner. She said she liked the smell. She had some in her bag that she had just bought so I gave it a sniff and sure enough it smelt fruity rather than biscuity, the way most self tanners do.

I decided to give it a try myself and picked some up in Boots for £9.62 (Boots currently have a ‘save 1/3’ offer on selected self tanning products).

I tried it out on Tuesday afternoon. As it’s a gel it applied smoothly and evenly. The tube says it dries quickly. After 20 minutes my legs still felt tacky but I gave up waiting and got dressed. The fruity scent was still there when I got dressed, but soon the old familiar biscuit smell appeared too. I showered before bed (about 5 hours after application) and this got rid of the smell for a time, but once I was in bed I could smell it again (I think it is more prominent the warmer your skin gets).

Wednesday morning my legs had turned a lovely bronzed colour and felt silky smooth, but the smell was still there. I am disappointed with this as the colour is nigh on perfect but the fake tan smell is just too strong for me. I will pass the rest of my tube on to the friend that likes it, and will return to the brand I found I liked last year.

Outfit: Shoeper Challenge #25 and No Sunshine

It is overcast and grey today, thought it looks like it may brighten up later on. A grey outfit blends well with it.

These shoes are by Betsey Johnson and were a gift from the lovely people at Fashion Stage. They don’t get a lot of wear as they are horse hair with leather soles and not very practical in the rain, but I definitely wanted to make sure I saved them in the Shoeper Challenge.

I am out for tea with the drama group tonight to celebrate someone's birthday. I think the next time we all go out it will be for my birthday and the lady who has a birthday the same day as I do.

Grey dress – Long Tall Sally
Grey cardi – New Look Tall
Tan belt – River Island
Leopard print shoes – Betsey Johnson (Fashion Stage) (gifted)
Cream beads – local boutique
Cream bead bracelet (worn as ring) – Diamonds & Pearls
Silver hoops – gifted
Silver bangles – Scope
Brown bangles – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £59

Outfit: Chinese Buffet

We went out for a Chinese buffet with my sister and her husband last night. The food was delicious as usual and we all had a good time. I wore my hair tied up as you tend to come away from that restaurant smelling of cooking. It worked – my hair smelt fresh this morning.

Purple top – Long Tall Sally
Jeans – Topshop Tall
Purple booties – Priceless Shoes
Silver hoops – gifted
Snakeskin belt – local boutique

Total Est. Cost £52

Stuff I Would Like For My Birthday...Part 2

This dress from Long Tall Sally, size 12.

Stuff I’m...

...Loving

The smell of leather that wafts from my tan belt every time I wear it
Spring sunshine
Wearing my trench coat (which I’m sure fits better than it did last year)
eBay

...Not Loving

Leaving my lipstick at home
Royal Fail taking 3 days to take a parcel they couldn’t deliver the 2.5 miles from my house to the sorting office

Outfit: Tuesday

I went to Body Conditioning class last night and I don’t ache too badly today. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to move my arms as a lot of what we did involved supporting most of your body weight on your arms, but it’s just my lower back that’s a bit achy.

I’m giving the IC shoes another outing, and whilst I think it’s a bit of a shame that I’ve covered them up with my jeans, I also think it’s quite fun to have just a bit of them peeping out when I walk and sit down.

We’re going for a Chinese buffet tonight with my sister and her husband which I always look forward to.

Black and cream stripe cardi – Topshop Tall (eBay)
Blue tank – Topshop
Jeans – Next Tall (clearance)
Black patent shoes – Irregular Choice (Spartoo – bought with voucher)
Blue beads – gifted
Cream bead bracelets – Diamonds and Pearls
Blue ring – Dorothy Perkins
Silver hoops – gifted
Wonder Woman black leather belt – River Island

Total Est. Cost £44

Stuff I Would Like For My Birthday...Part 1

I have a birthday coming up next month and yesterday I spied these shoes which I think would make the perfect present, possibly to myself if no one else buys them for me. (I take a size 42 if anyone’s feeling generous...)

(Kidding.)

(Maybe.)

Outfit: Shoeper Challenge #24 and More Stripes

No pictures from yesterday. After a chilly day on Saturday, yesterday was lovely and sunny but less warm than the end of last week. We slept late after our late night on Saturday, then the young man cut the grass and I picked up the cuttings from the edges after him. In the afternoon I cycled to the mall to see a) how long it would take and b) whether it would kill me. Turns out that a) 35 minutes there and 40ish back (there’s more uphill stretches on the way back) and b) no.

I was going to wear this dress during stripes week last week, but I didn’t get round to it. In fact, I have so many striped items I could probably do a fortnight without repeating. This dress was a charity shop find and I think it could be hand made as there are no labels in it and the stripes don’t match up at the sides. The waist is in the perfect position for me though so it was clearly made for someone tall. Such a lucky find.

It is still lovely and sunny today, but still not as warm as last week, so I thought I would take the opportunity to save some more boots whilst I still could. I think that boots with nude tights still look spring-y, whilst keeping your legs a bit warm too. These boots were bought in the Barratts sale two years ago. They were about £30 I think. I love the buckles and the fact that they are patent.

Black cardi – New Look Tall
Black and cream stripe dress – charity shop
Black patent boots – Barratts
Black patent belt – Primark
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £59

Outfit: Party Time!

We went to a friend’s birthday party last night. She is the sister in law of another friend, so there were plenty of people there that we knew and a good time was had by all. A few of us ended up dancing round the dining room table until about 2am. (Which was fine, but the clocks changed to Daylight Savings time last night so that really made it 3am.)

Black cashmere cardi – F+F at Tesco
Black and silver cami – New Look Tall
Jeans – Next Tall (clearance outlet)
Black boots – Arturo Chiang (Century 21)
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Blue bead bracelet – gifted
Snakeskin belt – local boutique

Total Est. Cost £114