Dressing up Mum with Bonmarche

When I started my blog all the way back in 2009 (oh how old that makes me feel!) it was a mainly solo affair- it was months before I let on to my family and friends what I was doing, and longer still before anyone else knew. These days I have a more “all hands on deck” approach and rope in helpers wherever possible. I have Ben doing the design and maintenance side of things (plus the odd photoshoot) and then I have Mum doing almost every set of photos and helping me sort out photographing and organising other posts too.

It’s nice to be able to reward these people who give up their time to help me, so when Bonmarche got in touch asking if I’d like to pick out a piece from their new Citrus Bloom by David Emanuel collection for my Mum I jumped at the chance (casually mentioning to her a day or so later that she’d need to be photographed and appear on the internet!)

Dress c/o Bonmarche | Tights: Marks and Spencer | Boots: Wallis

I’ll admit that I had Bonmarche down as an older person’s shop before I worked with them on the blog a year or so ago and took a fresh look. Granted some of the pieces are still aimed at a more mature audience but there are some items that are just perfect for people like my Mum- who want to dress nicely without looking either too young or too frumpy. This dress is really lovely, it’s a great quality fabric that clings in a really flattering way. The print is gorgeous and it’s quickly become a staple for a day at work. At £30 it’s a brilliant buy as it’s clearly going to last for quite some time, and I am sure there will be the odd occasion when this makes it’s way in to my wardrobe for a quick work-wear solution.
I know Mum was more than a bit reluctant to appear on the blog but I think she looks great- it was really comical watching her pose for the camera though, she’s obviously spent too long photographing me as at times it was like looking in a mirror!
Do you have anyone else get involved in your blog or is it still a bit of a secret? What do you think of how Mum styled the dress?

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The Hybrid Dress of Dreams

Ever see a dress and you have no idea when on earth you’ll ever get chance to own it but need to have it regardless? That’s exactly what happened to me when I caught sight of the Isabella dress by Hybrid. I’m a sucker for a velvet dress at the best of times, but combine it with a maxi length and more than a hint of sequins and I’m a lost cause.

Dress c/o Hybrid | Shoes: Mary Portas for Clarks | Necklace c/o Henryka | Bracelet c/o lolaandgrace

After the faded glitz and glamour of the festive season it felt good to get all dressed up again even if it was purely for the purpose of a blog post. I’d dress like this all the time if it was more socially acceptable (although give me a week and I’d be craving jeans and knitwear). I was lucky enough to be sent some gorgeous jewels from lolaandgrace
that coincided with the arrival of the dress so I popped on this chunky chain bracelet to finish off the look (for once in my life). The Henryka Daisy necklace is a permanent feature around my necklace recently and thankfully it seems to compliment every outfit.

After such a long hiatus from regular blogging I seem to have fallen out of the swing of writing engaging blog posts- if mine could ever be counted as such! Fingers crossed inspiration strikes soon…

In the mean time, what do you prefer- dressing up or dressing down?

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(Insta)Life Re-cap

So after an unplanned blog hiatus thanks to hosting issues and Ben’s skill and persistence when it comes to all things computer I’m finally back with a post (and seemingly missing a few, plus comments, but hey, I’m back!). I have tonnes of content to put together and share over the next week or so but I thought I’d launch right in with an Instagram recap of the first month of 2015- where has time gone?
Want to see more of what I get up to? You can follow me on Instagram here: make sure you leave your links below, I love a good stalk browse!

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