This was worn to go to another interview last week. The dress is pretty much my go-to tailoring - it's a ponte knit with enough stretch to wear comfortably for hours on end. I don't find that I'm as confident in traditional tailoring - it's something that isn't made well in larger sizes (too many variables I guess - itchy lining, tight arms, no breathing room). However, this season has been great for finding alternatives in ponte knits, which remain smart enough without being uncomfortable.

Dress, Tesco via eBay for £1.70
Black necklace, £2, Primark
Wide belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins
Tights, M&S
Boots, Rocketdogs, £50

I've owned this mustard yellow midi skirt for a good few months now, and worn it sparingly. I got it in the Dorothy Perkins sale, but have never quite twigged onto the perfect way to wear it, without it looking a bit frumpy and long (I like my skirts mid-thigh, and this is mid calf!). I twinned it with my black velvet scalloped mini dress (which I think I love more as a top now!) to wear to work this week, and I think finally got the styling right. The wide scalloped neckline of this dress, combined with a full skirt, feels very 50s to me - it's simple with just the right amount of unique detailing. I'd love to be able to master a scallop in my sewing projects, though sadly I don't seem to get along with circular hemming. Hmm.

Scalloped mini, worn as top, £3, charity shop
Belt, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Skirt, Dorothy Perkins, £15
Brooch, Primark, £2
Boots, rocketdogs, £50

I had a lovely Saturday this weekend, pottering around my favourite Yorkshire charity shop haunt (Otley, for those interested - about ten charity shops, most reasonably priced, not to mention some lovely cafes and the best bookshop ever). To celebrate a thrifty day, I wore my most recent find - this black velvet mini, which I found the weekend before for £3 in Nottingham, where my dad has recently moved. I teamed it with my garish stripey tights and a new brooch, from ASOS's sale.

Here's a picture of the neckline:

and a necessary picture of the gigantic piece of white chocolate and lemon cake I consumed:
My finds included a Spare Rib compilation book, a wool kilt, a fab bright red jumper and er, too many books. Good day!

I have to say, the longer I've been temping, the more brash I'm getting with my clothes. I work in an office currently that's full of pastels and proper workwear, and lately lots of unpleasant healthy lifestyle fat shaming rhetoric, and it's kind of hard on me in some ways. I've been coping with my favourite self care mechanism, which is basically dressing obnoxiously (within certain limits). This pink dress was a sales find from Next, from the maternity section (though my belly fills it minus sprog!), which is definitely a good resource if you are big bellied or pear shaped like me. It's another jersey mix, so comfortable day wear with just the right amount of 60s-ishness and obnoxious loudness for me.

Dress, £12, Next sale
Collar, £6.50, Romwe
Boots, Rocketdogs, £50

Here's another belated work outfit for you. The waistcoat and shorts were sale buys this year. I tried to focus my sale purchases more around versatile separates to replace long suffering favourites of mine, instead of cooing over all the pretty and ridiculous dresses as per usual!

Peacock waistcoat, Forever 21, £8 (their sale stuff was on buy one get one free over the festive period. HAPPY FACE)
Black tee, clothes swap
Necklace, Primark, £2
Tweed shorts of dreams, £17, very.co.uk
Boots, Rocketdogs, £50

Still wayyyy behind with all of my outfit posts - I still haven't posted about my sales purchases! Here's an outfit I remixed for work before Christmas - the dress is a summer sale purchase, and one of my staple work dresses. I'm not great with tailoring (you might have noticed), mainly because my body completely changes shape when I'm sat down (this move turns most knee length shift dresses into minis! Not good!), so I try and go for smart jersey pieces instead.

Dress, £15, Dorothy Perkins
Cardigan was one I picked up from Rebecca when we met over the summer (summer?! What's that?!), free
Boots, Rocketdog, £50
Necklace, Primark, £2

In other news, I'm super excited about Plus London 2! Claire of Monkey Fatshionista is organising it this year, and it looks great. Brands involved include Domino Dollhouse, One Stop Plus, Simply Be and Anna Scholz, and there's going to be a fashion show, pop up photography studio and a clothes swap (so you know I'm there). Hopefully I'll get my arse into gear and finish my zine in time for it too! It's open to bloggers and friends of bloggers, and you can see the facebook event here and the tumblr here. If you want to attend, drop Claire a line at supermonkey79atgmaildotcom to RSVP. Hope to meet some of you there!

Here's another remixed outfit for work this week. I'm finding circle skirts a nice compromise between smart and repetitive - though still finding not being able to be a bit wackier a bit stifling. Thankfully I'm not stuck in tailoring all day, which is something at least! I'll try and be a bit more imaginative this week perhaps.

Nude body, very.co.uk, £12 (sale)
Cami, Dorothy Perkins, £4 (sale)
Skirt, self made with £4 market fabric
Tights, M&S
Boots, Rocketdog, £50

Just a quick post for me today. I'm temping at the minute, and trying to find my way around corporate/professional wear again, which I fear has resulted in way too many dull outfits. I'm also spending a lot of my spare time trying to make some work wear of my own, but I'll write about my adventures on that front another time. This dress is my favourite work appropriate item of clothing - it's a wool pinafore bought from Jane Bon Bon on etsy in a sample sale about a year and a half ago. I probably don't need to sell leopard print wool to anyone, but I'm still surprised at how well made and well fitted this is. I just had a nosey, and her etsy shop seems to be on ongoing vacation mode, sadly, and I hope this isn't permanent as I'm longing for another of her pieces when I next have money.

And one (badly posed) last picture to show off my winter coat this year! I found it at Leeds market, for the princely sum of £20. It's got a fake fur collar and a swing shape - warm with a nice vintage twinge. Lately I've been teaming it with this vintage hat, found last year in a charity shop for £4! I definitely go for a slightly "eccentric old lady" look during the winter - endless layers and big accessories are the best to keep warm in a cold Yorkshire winter.
Coat, £20, Leeds market
Hat, £4, charity shop
Dress, Jane Bonbon via etsy, £40 (sample sale price)
Black polo neck, Dorothy Perkins, £7
Boots, Rocketdog, £50
Tights, M&S

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

I was window shopping recently on H&M's website, and was pleasantly surprised to notice that a few pieces of the Inclusive range had some pretty hefty reductions. I wasn't keen on the range on it's release, but I did like a few pieces - this skirt and this bodysuit - both still reduced to £7.99 online. I ordered both (though sadly the body didn't work - not surprising, as I've yet to find one made for my 5'9" frame). I ended up having to size up to a size 26 for the skirt (this range runs so small! Size up at least one, probably two sizes, from your average). The ordering and exchanging process was pretty frustrating - to my knowledge, there is no sizing information online for this range, and it took about six weeks and several angry emails to get my exchange sorted! The skirt itself is fantastic, and I'm impressed with the length and fullness of it, but I'm not sure I'd go through such hassle to get an item of clothing again.

Anyway, it's here now, and I debuted it to go gaming with some friends. I teamed it with some basic pieces to make it a feature of the outfit.

Skirt, £7.99, H&M inclusive
Top, £3, Dorothy Perkins
Blazer, £10, Fatshionista sales post
Tights, M&S
Necklace, £2, Primark
Boots, Rocketdog, £50

After a bike-less hiatus in Brighton, I've finally been able to start cycling again now that I'm back in Leeds. I'm still getting used to what I can and cannot wear on it. This outfit is probably an errand running staple - great for cycling through rain and not getting distracted by my clothes.

The boots are Rocketdog Nokouts, bought recently on eBay after I discovered that they still existed! I had these boots when I was in uni (though in brown) and wore them to death. Since they went beyond repair, I've never found another pair of boots to feel the same about - my calves are too wide for most styles, and normally I just end up with a pair from Evans that I don't feel strongly about - so when I discovered that these still existed, I was ecstatic! They retail at about £65-70 online, but I was able to track down a nearly new pair for a bit less. They're available from IShoe for anyone else interested. They fit my wide size 8 and large calves with room to spare.

Sheer cream shirt, clothes swap, free
High waisted jeans, Beth Ditto for Evans, £8
Boots, Rocketdog Nokouts via eBay, £50
Duffel Coat, £12.50, River Island sale