Today (work):

Striped tee, passed on by a friend
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Skirt, Dorothy Perkins, £15
Sandals, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Jacket, ASOS, £32
Necklace, Tatty Devine, birthday present
Bag, car boot, £3

This dress was kindly sent to me by the folks at Simply Be earlier this year. It's part of their collection with Anna Scholz - a range I've always wanted to try but which is also a little out of my price range normally. This is made out of a lovely jersey fabric, and I love the ruching down the front of the dress. The skirt isn't quite as tight fitting as I'd like, so I think it'll be altered before I wear it next.

This I wore it simply, with some heeled boots and a skinny belt - definitely one of my uniforms looks!

Dress, c/o Simply Be (available here)
Belt, Dorothy Perkins
Boots, Primark

This dress is one of my new favourite things! It's perfect to throw on with some flats when I'm feeling lazy. I've gotten more into separates over the past year that I've almost forgotten how effortless a good dress can be when you're in a rush to leave the house in the morning. I can see it looking fancified with a little more effort too! 

Dress, c/o Simply Be
Tights, M&S
Shoes, crocs, via eBay, £6
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7

Also, hey look it's been so long since I posted that I forgot I hadn't given you all a hair update! Yes, predictably enough it's all been chopped off again (I blame the inklings of Spring weather).

Hey folks! Long time no speak (blame postgraduate education for that!). Here's a quickie, and oh, look, black hairzz. Sure you've seen most of this before, but I've gotten into layering shirts under dresses and t-shirts in the winter for warmth and a new look.

Dress, £20, Dorothy Perkins
Shirt, clothes swap
Collar necklace, ASOS, £8
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Boots, docs via eBay, £50
Tights, M&S

Hey one and all! The lovely folks at Simply Be were kind enough to send me this floral dress, so I took today as an excuse to get a bit excessively glam for university! It's made of a lovely thick jersey, and comes comfortably to my knees (which, at 5'10", doesn't happen often!), with a lovely fitted shape. It will definitely be making repeat appearances soon! 

Floral pencil dress, c/o Simply Be - up for sale here. 

Teamed with:

Leather jacket, Dorothy Perkins via eBay, £35

Feather cape, £7, eBay

Belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins

Necklace, £4, Primark

Tights, M&S

Boots: Primark, £18 (in store now)

Close up of the boots: 

(Remarkably, they're the first pair of medium heels I've gotten on with, EVER, who knows why?)

And just yesterday I had some locks chopped off, so I'm now sporting a messy graduated bob. I'm missing not being able to pin my hair up, but liking how easy it is to style. 

A goofy grin and a remixed outfit today. I actually can't believe I've never owned a denim jacket before - they go with everything and enable me to buy a copious amount of badges and pins. Huzzah! 

Top, £7, Dorothy Perkins

Skirt, clothes swap, free

Belt, £5, Dorothy Perkins

Shoes, Primark, £12

Denim jacket, New Look Inspire, £20

One top, worn two ways today. I bought this short sleeved knit top in the Next sale earlier this year, but haven't worn it nearly enough yet. I decided the completion of my first pair of 40s-esque high waisted trousers warranted it's reappearance, as the style is quite 40s in itself. Teamed simply both times, the top to see some friends and the bottom outfit for a work related appointment.

The trousers worked out well, though I had to remake a waistband as I used stretchy tailoring and it meant the pattern's waistband (with interfacing) was too small. I think I might enlarge the waistband next time too, as though this is high waisted, they could suit a little higher. I made them out of a suiting from my bargain hunting adventures - bought from my favourite fabric stall for £1 a metre (seriously, I wish I'd bought all they had now, it's great!), and I still have some spare to make a pencil skirt out of. Now I've made them once, I'm already planning another pair in a more adventurous colour/fabric.

Top, £12, Next sale
Skirt, handmade
Trousers, handmade from Simplicity 3688 (widely available up to a 28w, I bought mine for £4 at a sale at a local craft shop)
Loafers, Primark, £12
Black belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7

Oh! And as a side note, I am applying for funding for my etsy shop through the Fund 101 scheme on Enterprise Nation. I need 500 votes, and then I'll qualify for a £500 grant, which will allow me to expand on my current skirt and fabric selection and buy a mannequin to fit and display my wares on. You can see my page here, and it only takes a minute to vote for me. I'd reach my target if about half of my regular readers voted, so if you have a spare moment and want to see more of my wares then please do vote!

A bit of a colour/pattern/everything clashing yesterday, inspired by occasional bursts of bright sun and just the general need to be a bit obnoxious and loud. I love these tights but feel I need to make a few bolder wardrobe decisions in teaming them with outfits.

Top, clothes swap, free
Collar, Romwe, c. £7
Skirt, self made with fabric gifted by the lovely Donna
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Tights, c/o We Love Colours
Shoes, Primark, £12

Edited to add a few plugs too:

This weekend is the plus sized clothes swap I'm organising - you can see details for that here, and there's a facebook event here too. It'll be fun and cheap and awesome!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway with BAIT footwear, details here.

Here's my latest craft project for you all. I found this medium brown stretch cotton on sale at the market for £1.50 a metre, and thought it'd make a nice understated circle dress. I used my old faithful vogue pattern (V8615) to make it, this time adding 3/4 length sleeves (a step I've always skipped before). I find the sleeves a bit tight on me, so some upsizing will be needed if I make this again with sleeves. For £4.50 total cost though, it's a perfectly functional dress for work and play.

Dress, handmade
Belt, £6, Dorothy Perkins
Brooch, £2, Primark
Brogues, £12, Primark

I've spent the last few weeks going a tad craft-crazy, working on a whole bunch of projects and hitting the fabric sale racks at my local market pretty hard. I've been looking for the right pencil skirt pattern for ages, and found Burda Patterns's Kasia skirt pattern online recently. It doesn't fit up to my size, but I decided to take a chance on some DIY pattern grading with the cut and spread method (here's some information for anyone interested) and attempt to size it up because it was high waisted and had cute details that were perfect for workwear and casual skirts). I used a stretchy ponte knit fabric I scored for £1.50 a metre at the market (this took about 1.5 metres) and some feature stripey buttons:


It came out well for a first try - I ended up making it too large and had to take it in a fair bit, but that might be because of the super stretchy fabric. However, I'll DEFINITELY be making it again (Burda suggest contrast pockets, with sounds great!) in a less conservative pattern.

Jumper, clothes swap, free
Skirt, self made (total cost c. £5.50 including buttons!)
Necklace, Primark, £2
Boots, Rocketdog, £50

Winter Uniforms

This past week, I've been thinking about staple winter outfits. This outfit is probably all of my favourite staples in one outfits - button up blouses, high waisted skirt, round neck jumper and my trusty docs. It really helps with dark mornings to be able to rely on a formula like this, instead of trying to be super stylish every day of the week.

Jumper, clothes swap, free
Scalloped blouse, Dorothy Perkins, £12
High waisted skirt, clothes swap, free
Tights, M&S
Socks, Primark
Docs, gifted

Hello again! The past three weeks have been a bit crazy for me, finishing a very busy period working at a literature festival, and now lots of job hunting afoot! I'm unemployed right now, which is great for my sewing projects, but not so great otherwise. I spent my last paycheck on a few sales treats for myself, including this gorgeous dress from Dorothy Perkins. Bateau necklines and full skirts are my biggest weakness, and though I can generally make them myself now, the stitching and ponte material of this one made it a worthy purchase.

I'm loving teaming it with my mustard loafers for yellow overload, and it's proved absolutely fantastic to accessorise. I've worn it fairly constantly since it arrived, and am very much enjoying mixing my favourite accessories with it. Here's another look with the same dress:

This time I paired it with a crocheted shawl I picked up for £1 from Leeds market. One of the joys of being unemployed is being able to hit the outdoor market on a Thursday - which brings out the best second hand bargains! Sadly, I am way too poor to buy much, but the £1 piles do bring up some joys!

Dress, £20, Dorothy Perkins - still online (and reduced further! Gah!) here
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £6
Tights, M&S
Loafers, £12, Primark
First scarf, old vintage stock
Second shawl, £1, Leeds market

Also, just another reminder that I'm co-organising a fat clothes swap in Leeds, on the 29th October! That's next weekend! Check out the event on facebook here and email me if you have any questions. The wonderful Simply Be have also sent me some unsold stock from previous seasons for the swap, which I'm very excited about. I'm sure it'll be an awesome event, and it'd be great to see some of my readers there too. K xx