How to Wear: Spring (Bold Stripes)

The lovely folks at Voucher Codes approached me recently to take part in a series on how to wear Spring trends. I was given a few options, from which I chose bold stripes! I love stripey things, I'm sure long term readers will have realised this by now!

We were given £80 to go and find options from which we could make 3 outfits (using pieces from our own wardrobe where we wanted). I liked this challenge because it was budget friendly too - £80 is probably more than I'd spend otherwise for 3 items, but still a fairly reasonable amount. I found three items, and here's how I wore them:

Look 1: Casual

 Stripey jumper, Maine New England at Debenhams, £22.40 - available here
White button up shirt: Clothes swap
Jeans, ASOS, £16 - available here
Necklace, Topshop, £12.50 - available here
Dunlops, car boot sale, £2

This is a look I wear pretty frequently these days - it's comfortable, warm and still stylish (I think?!). The stripey jumper is a classic for me, though surprisingly I've not owned one in ages! I have lots of stripey tops though. The jumper is a generous sized 22, has lovely cable detailing and is thick. Definitely one I'll be wearing constantly until March gets nicer. The necklace is something I bought with a gift voucher over Christmas and have been wearing with lots of things. Feature necklaces are definitely something I'd like more of!

Look 2: Smart:

 

Chevron striped work dress, £32, Collection at Debenhams - available here

Cardigan, clothes swap

Chunky necklace, £2, Primark

Belt, £7, Dorothy Perkins

Tights, M&S

Shoes, ASOS, £30 - available here (for £16 now, gah)

I went for a more discretely striped item with my second choice - this chevron striped work dress from Debenhams (okay, there were other places selling striped things too....). You can't see but it has these cute red panels that I covered up with the cardigan and belt because I wanted to wear my pink flatforms! It's made out of ponte fabric which is my favourite fabric for workwear, though annoyingly it's also lined making it not stretchy at all! Thankfully it fits really well and the lining isn't constricting. The 22 is pretty generous so would fit size 24 too.

Look 3: smart casual. 

Jersey dress, Very, £16 - available here
Cardigan, c/o Curvissa - available here and customised with these patches
Tights, M&S
Boots, Primark
Necklace - Fable and Fury

My final look revolved around this cute long sleeved jersey skater dress I found on Very. £16! I got the tall version and it's about the right length for me. I thought it'd be cute clashed with my spotty cardigan from Curvissa, which I recently customised with some patches from eBay. A bit obnoxious but hopefully still nice.

Phew! Hope you enjoyed, and thanks to Voucher Codes for letting me take part!

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

This is a bit of an old outfit now. I work in a casual office, but sometimes I dress a bit fancier, mainly for my own sake, sometimes for meetings. I don't really like tailoring and tend to get around it with a shift dress/shirt combo instead, like this (though generally not quite as scruffy!).

Shirt, clothes swap
Dress, handmade for c. £6!
Belt, old vintage stock
Shoes, Primark, £12