dream style in UK: Dresses

Showing posts with label Dresses. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

JOY JOY JOY

I know that I can be a bit rubbish with money because there's always some new cosmetic that I 'need' or I just suddenly decide that I 'have to' take a little weekend trip to London or HMV is having a sale that I 'should' really make the most of (in case of some kind of future DVD drought). And maybe, if I was better at saving up, I'd be able to treat myself to slightly more expensive clothing (usually, I tend to stick to sales and cheap stores like H&M and New Look). But to be honest, even if I do have the money to spend, I'm really reluctant to part with much more than £40 for any item from a high street store (unless it's something super fancy, or something very important, like a coat) because I do think they can be stupidly overpriced and generally, for the quality you get, it's just not worth it. Possibly my most commonly used phrase while shopping is,

"£45 for a skirt?! I could make this!"

which is, of course, ridiculous, because I literally can't make anything.

Anyway, this weekend, I was in London, visiting friends, flitting about Islington and generally being fabulous and Londony, when Tash and I decided to have a little look in JOY.

In case you don't know, there are many pretty things in JOY; lots of quirky dresses and cool jewellery and interesting home accessories and silly games like they have in Urban Outfitters. I'm a big fan of JOY, but I rarely get the chance to shop there because they opened a store in Liverpool for like a month and then for some reason it closed down mysteriously. It's all very upsetting, actually.

So we're looking in JOY and I'm specifically looking for an evening dress for a party I'm going to this weekend. Sadly, I didn't really find any fabulous evening dresses, but I did find this;

Louche Sophie Heart Button Dress - JOY

I don't think the picture fully does it justice, but you have to understand this dress is truly ADORABLE and the fit was perfect and it's so pink and I don't even wear that much pink but I'm trying to integrate it more into my wardrobe and LOOK AT ALL THE HEARTS! This dress is the very definition of JOY! Except, not really, because then I looked at the price tag and it was £49. I know £49 doesn't sound like much when you love something, and I do love this dress, but it's the principle of the thing. This dress is 100% viscose.

"£49 for a dress made of viscose?! I could make this!"

SHUT UP FRANKI!

So I didn't buy it. And now I am sad. The dress that filled me with such joy has now left me feeling sad and empty.

I think the moral of this story is very clear;

I should start ~~saving my money~~ a dressmaking course.

What do you think, people? Is the dress too expensive? Am I being silly? Would you pay £49 for a dress made of viscose? What even is viscose? I NEED ANSWERS!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

(tea)spoonful of sugar...

Two years ago, when I was still at university and suffering from a particularly desperate cashflow situation, I entered a competition to win £250 to spend at Warehouse. It was fairly straightforward - you just had to make a list of your top five 'must-have' items from the website and then the lovely people from Warehouse picked their favourite list. Amazingly, I won! It was all quite exciting, especially because I literally had no money to spend on clothes at that time and it meant that I could actually buy a coat to see me through the winter months. Had I not won that competition, readers, I'd probably have died of hypothermia. Really.

Anyway, last week, ASOS were running the same sort of competition, except you had to pick three items and the prize was £1000 to spend on the site. Yep, £1000. That's a whole bunch of clothes. Even though I didn't actually come across the comp until the last minute and there was already A LOT of entries (understandably), I figured I'd give it a go. I mean, who doesn't want to win £1000 to spend on ASOS? In fact, who doesn't want to win £1000 to spend anywhere? I'd probably have entered if the prize was £1000 to spend at Millet's.

The thing is, picking three 'must-have' items from ASOS is really quite difficult because there are literally hundreds of beautiful things to choose from. And of course, because it was a competition I wanted my list to be unique. I spent a long time clicking through lots of different dresses, shoes, jackets, tops etc etc and in the end I went for three items that (I think) were suitably fabulous but not too obvious. The winner was supposed to be announced on Friday but I just looked on the ASOS Facebook group and it said the winner would be announced next week so I'm keeping everything crossed! Seriously, ONE THOUSAND POUNDS!!!

If you're interested, here are the three items I chose;

I'm loving maxi dresses at the moment so I went for this gorgeous printed one by Aqua Couture;

I wanted a pair of fabulous shoes on my list, and I thought these Carvela bondage-inspired platforms were really striking;

The final item I chose was this bejewelled bandeau bodice (hello alliteration!) by One Teaspoon;

I love this!!!

I remember when ASOS was first launched (back in 2000 when I was a wee 12 year old!); ASOS, in case you don't know (though I'm sure you do) stands for 'As Seen On Screen' and the whole concept behind the site was that it sold clothing 'in the style' of celebrities, so basically, things that you've 'seen on screen' and want to copy. Now, ten years later, while you can still buy celeb-inspired stuff, the site is no longer all about copying celebrities as ASOS stocks countless brands, both designer and high street, which are stylish in their own right and not just because Ashley Olsen was seen wearing them.

I've mentioned before that I don't often buy clothes online, for the simple reason that my size varies depending on where I shop and I can't be bothered with the hassle of sending stuff back if it doesn't fit. Because of this, I don't really visit ASOS very often, however, after spending a bit of time there for the competition last week, I'm definitely reconsidering! In addition to all the well-known labels you can find on the site, such as French Connection and Oasis, ASOS also stocks loads of independent and new designers which I doubt I'd have come across otherwise.

One of the labels that caught my attention was Australian brand One Teaspoon, which I noticed while I was weeping over the bandeau top above. I think the clothes are similar to the stuff you get at All Saints, although slightly more toned-down. The collection on ASOS features a selection of cute tee-shirts, tops and a couple of dresses; all quite simple but with a casual, urban feel to them. While it's not cheap (some of the tee-shirts are £40 and that bandeau top is £120!), I reckon that if I did have that kind of money I would definitely be spending it on this brand, as all the pieces are so unique but wearable. Here's a few more of my favourite items from the brand;

Beaded Tie Dye Maxi Dress, £70

Lace Bodice, £55

Sergeant Pepper Oversized Tee, £45

Studded Leather Waistcoat, £190

What do you think? Worth the money?

(all images from ASOS, click product names to go to their page on the site)

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

LBD... easy as 1,2,3

From left to right - Miranda Kerr (in THAT Jil Sander dress), Rachel Bilson, Leighton Meester, Christina Hendricks and Jessica Alba

So I spent a bit of time last week in London "on business"...kind of, not really, but it sounds cool, right? I also got to hang out with some of my favourite people and one in particular, let's call her "Molly", inspired this post. She was raving about a new black shift dress which, bought on a whim when she needed something smart to wear, had proven to be one of the most versatile items in her wardrobe.

Now, I'm pretty sure that every fashion-conscious lady on this side of the galaxy is well aware that a little black dress is a staple piece in any wardrobe. If you weren't aware of that, don't worry, I won't judge you. But my friend Molly is very, very right; the beauty of a really good LBD is that it's versatile. As long as you've got one of those de-fluffer things (because fluff on black stands out a mile) a black dress can be worn in about 24501 different ways. (I've got research to back up this figure...) Whether it's with a cardigan and some flats for daytime or a pair of heels and a clutch bag for the evening, a black dress (or two) is definitely something worth having in your wardrobe.

Of course, the other good thing about a black dress is the instant chic factor it gives you on a night out. The epitome of effortless glamour, a simple LBD automatically makes you look a million dollars without you having to really try at all; think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's - black shift, heels, maybe some jewellery - badabing badaboom... did I really just say that? Think I may need to be more of an old-style New York mafia boss, less 21st century Scouse mentallist to really pull that off, but let's not worry too much about my random outbursts of hitman-speak and get back to the lovely clothes, yes?

Oh Audrey...

Anyway, I've often heard talk of the "perfect" LBD; it's probably a different style and shape for every person, but somewhere out there, there is a dress with the ability to make you look bloody fantastic as soon as you put it on. The fun comes with trying to find it. And with fashion designers doing more and more clever things with tailoring, hemlines, fabric, embroidery and everything else, there is no better time to go out and find the perfect LBD.

I started browsing through a few fashion sites thinking I'd get a handful of photos to post but I found so many amazing dresses I got a bit carried away. Enjoy the pics and let me know which one is your favourite! I'm loving the amazing chain detail on that Sheri Bodell dress in the picture below and the gorgeous strapless Nathan Jenden one in the third picture.