a million dresses

Wednesday Wants

2012-03-14T08:00:00.000Z

The first dress in this weeks wishlist really is on a 'wish' list... a 'wish I had the figure to be able to pull it off' wish list! Maybe once I have lost my tummy & if further weight loss doesn't make me more pear shaped I will be able to pull it off. Til then I will just look longingly at it.

Dress: asos

Dress: Topshop

Dress: New Look

I love the shimmer fabric on the Topshop dress, it has sleeves and a v shaped back - perfection! I have been waiting for the above New Look dress to come in stock since January. It's finally online and thanks to Hannah I didn't miss out, not sure how I missed it when I check the new arrivals every day! There are limited sizes left and it is part of their limited edition range so don't wait too long if you've been lusting after this beauty!

What's on your Spring wishlist?

Leopard Brights

2012-03-13T08:00:00.001Z

As soon as I saw this dress I knew I had to own it! Eloise spotted it whilst we were wandering round Topshop Oxford Circus before #ldnlunch. It's by Oh My Love, a brand I hadn't heard of before. Checking out their website they don't have my exact dress online but they do have a dipped hem version.

Dress: Oh My Love

Jacket: New Look

I am totally in love with this jacket too, it was a bargainous £22.99 from New Look and comes in loads of other colours. I have my eye on the minty one and the bright coral, lush. It's nice and light and will look great when Spring finally decides to show it's face. I can't wait for the mornings to brighten up and lighter evenings so I can go walking and sit in beer gardens...

Jenny Craig - Week One

2012-03-12T07:54:00.001Z

I have now completed the first week of my Jenny Craig diet food trial. I have had some really nice meals and some not so good ones, guess that will always be the way when you're as fussy as me. I have had days where I could have eaten everything in sight and still felt hungry after each meal but on the whole I have been satisfied with the food and am proud to say have managed to stick the plan 100% even on the day I didn't like either of my meal choices.

If you follow me on twitter you will have seen these photos already, I have tweeted a picture of each new meal. I opted to have just the raspberry porridge breakfast option as I don't really like the other choices and I usually eat plain porridge for breakfast every day.

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Snacks

I wanted see how the Jenny Craig plan compares to Weight Watchers so I have been pointing everything I eat. On Weight Watchers I get 26 points a day (plus the standard 49 weeklies) and I averaged 26 points per day over the course of the first week.

Monday - 28
Tuesday - 27
Wednesday - 26
Thursday - 27
Friday - 24
Saturday - 28
Sunday - 25

I haven't actually lost weight this week which has really shocked me. I don't understand why and cannot wait to speak to my counselor later to see what she says. It's not all bad though as my measurements have changed by:
Chest: -½"
Waist: -1"
Stomach: -1"
Hips: -½"

That's pretty impressive in just a week! I guess inch loss is more important than weight loss but I need to see the numbers on the scale decrease to keep me motivated.

I have found it harder than Weight Watchers even though I am consuming roughly the same points. I think that this is because the choice is taken away from you. You have to eat set foods at set points in the day and you cannot save a few calories for a treat or dip into a weekly bank. Saying that I have been eating much healthier foods now that I do not have the option of saving 5+ points a day for cake and chocolate!

I hadn't been fitting in any exercise before the trial began and am pleased to report that I have changed my ways! Not quite sweating it out at the gym or going for a run but I have been walking for at least an hour four times this week which is better than nothing.

If you are currently following a weight loss plan please let me know which one and how you are finding it. Most of you will know that I am a member of Where Are My Knees and we are always looking for guest bloggers to share their inspirational stories and advice so please let me know if you are interested in writing for us.

A Guided Tour... The Bedroom

2012-03-11T12:00:00.000Z

I've saved my favourite room til last, our bedroom. It's my favourite room because it contains my favourite place in the whole world - bed! There really is no where that can beat being snuggled up in your own bed. It's not normally this tidy, I had just cleaned the carpets so had to put my toiletries away and hang all my clothes up. The whole room is based around our doggie doorstop and a union jack cushion which were purchased before the flat was actually completed. I love the red walls and the slick white gloss furniture, I think it works well with the contrasting black gloss mirrors.

The artwork is fairly simple in our bedroom. Gray designed and hand-cut the two paper cutouts. I made the scrabble frame above our bed which says 'Sweet Dreams'. The two square frames contain cards that Gray bought me and we now have a few of our favourite wedding photos on display too.

We also have an en-suite but Gray is in the middle of painting the walls in there so it's not that interesting. That's it, guided tour completed! I hope you enjoyed the little trip round my home. Let me know if you do similar posts as I would love to have a nosy too!

Polka Face

2012-03-09T08:00:00.001Z

I wore this dress to a meeting this week, it's nice and smart but still has me written all over it! I love the varying size polka dots and of course the fact that it's flattering and made me feel tiny. Result! It was a bargain £20 in the Oasis sale. I teamed it with my favourite Missguided shocking pink blazer and a slick of Topshop's all about me lipstick.

Dress: Oasis

Blazer: Missguided

What do you think of my hair? I have been wearing it in a centre parting the last few days. My hair usually annoys me so I clip it off my face but I am kinda feeling the centre parting. It feels a bit 90's!

Wednesday Wants

2012-03-07T08:00:00.000Z

This wishlist wasn't meant to be minty but it seems I am currently drawn to it! I normally hate pastels as they totally wash me out but this seasons pastels are brighter and much more wearable. Thank god we have an alternative from Spring = Nauticals this year. That was getting very boring. I am loving mint, candy pink and lilac right now. I also want to buy the Missguided Aldara dress in two of the colours I skipped - the candy pink and mint versions. Swoon.

Dress: Rare via Topshop

Blouse: Urban Outfitters

Watch: asos

What are you currently craving??

Pink Sorbet

2012-03-06T07:42:00.000Z

I've been experimenting with clothes other than dresses recently. I haven't always just worn dresses, in fact I used to wear a lot of skirts and tops. I used to own almost as many skirts as I did dresses. I guess that as I put weight on I found that dresses are just better at hiding it. They are far more forgiving so I tried to hide my weight gain as best as I could. Now that it is coming off (I can happily say that I am mostly a size 10 again now) I am again turning to cute little skirts and am mostly loving all the ice cream shades that are everywhere at the moment. Teamed with a pair of black opaques of course, it's far too cold to even consider bare legs at the moment!

Skirt: Topshop

Shirt: Matalan

Jumper: H&M

It's been so cold recently that I need the jumper for a bit of warmth... thought it was meant to be Spring now?! I felt really girly in this candy pink outfit and the skirt got loads of compliments, such a nice shade. Kudos to the lovely Gem for sharing this shirt with us all via her instagram snaps. As soon as I saw it and found out that it was only £16 from Matalan I knew I needed to make it mine!

Jenny Craig

2012-03-05T08:00:00.001Z

I am sure you've all seen the advert where Mel B tells the viewers to call Jenny, thankfully Jenny called me instead (well her PR team emailed me but that doesn't sound as good...) I have been offered the chance to trial Jenny Craig for a month and blog about my experiences. Charlene has already done this for Where Are My Knees, Sarah on her own blog and the lovely Rosie is currently part way thru her trial.

With Jenny Craig you get your diet food delivered to your door and just need to add fruit and veggies to bulk up your meals. The meals are foil packed so do not require refrigeration, I selected the foods I liked and received a whole months worth in one go along with a meal plan for each week. I get 1200 calories a day not including the calories from the vegetables that I need to add to my lunch and dinner.

You get a call from one of their consultants each week to check on your progress, answer any questions you may have and generally offer you support. My consultant is called Leanne and I have already had a welcome call to explain the plan to me. She is going to call again this week to check I am not having problems following the plan and then if everything is okay we will just have a weekly chat. There is also a help line you can call if you have any questions or just generally need some support with the plan.

I am starting my trial today and have raspberry porridge, chorizo & mixed bean soup and roast chicken with mashed potato to look forward to. In addition to this I am instructed to have a Jenny Craig snack and certain other snacks and accompaniments to each meal. Day one looks like this...

The food provided by Jenny Craig:

I then need to add the following:

Okay so I am not going to eat that whole bag of carrots but you get the idea! You don't go longer than a couple of hours without some kind of food on the plan. I have to eat my breakfast within an hour of waking, today I have to add 1 cup of semi skimmed milk and a portion of fruit to my breakfast. For a snack I then have a couple of fromage frais. Next up is lunch which I need to add a minimum of 1 cup of salad to. I don't really like actual salads so am just going to snack on pepper, carrot batons and cucumber. I then get a Jenny Craig snack (either a biscuit/cereal bar or a packet of crisp type snack). I need to add a minimum of 1 cups worth of veggies to dinner and finish the day with another piece of fruit. In addition to this I can choose up to three 'limited choices' these include certain condiments, fruits and most importantly for me options hot chocolate!! YAY!!

I have had the last few days off WeightWatchers so have had my fill of my favourite foods and am going to try and do the whole month without eating out. You can of course eat out whilst on the plan, your consultant will talk you through your best options.

I am going to keep you updated on my progress and I have also decided to compare Jenny Craig to WeightWatchers and track the points that I am eating. All of the Jenny Craig food comes with full nutritional information. Wish me luck!

A Guided Tour... Odds & Sods

2012-03-04T10:56:00.000Z

Or hallway/office & bathroom to be more precise.

Hallway - I love the sunshine-ness of our hallway. It's light, bright and airy and never fails to put a smile on my face. I fell in love with this typographic print of the UK and had to own it, I think it looks perfect against the orange wall. Gray made the other prints in our hallway and an orange velvet door curtain adds the finishing touch whilst keeping out any draughts!

Office - We've only recently turned our spare bedroom into an office, before then it had become the dumping ground for all things wedding related. There are still a few boxes of wedding crap in one of the corners but we can finally make use of this room again. This is where I take most of my outfit photos against my huge white gloss wardrobe. It's from Ikea and I love that it has a sliding door, very space saving! I haven't included a photo of the wardrobe as it can be seen in almost all of my outfit posts. The silver wall was a total bitch to paint, do not recommend it even though it does look good and don't get me started on how hard that incredibly heavy mirror was to put up...

Bathroom - I never really use our main bathroom as we also have an en-suite (they are literally 10 seconds from each other, such over kill!) I don't like sitting in the bath and the shower in the en-suite is much easier to get in and out of when you've first woken up. We painted a couple of the walls this amazing purple colour to match the purple amtico tiles we have our eye on. I mainly keep spare toiletries in here as it's got more storage than the en-suite. I love the quirky mirror from Suck UK, having a wiper blade makes it easier for Gray to have a shave in a steamy bathroom.

Just our bedroom left to share now, that will have to wait til I have hung up a few clothes! haha

Wednesday Wants

2012-02-29T08:00:00.000Z

I need your help. I realised far too late that I really need this top. It's no longer online and I cannot find it on eBay. If you own it and no longer wear it please let me know, I will buy it from you. I have this little outfit planned in my head and it will never become reality without this top.

Polka Dot Crop Top - Topshop

Thanks for your help guys!

Cambridge Satchel

2012-02-28T08:00:00.001Z

I've always had a lot of love for traditional leather satchels but couldn't really justify the price when I am so fickle with bags. This all changed when I set eyes on the metallic gold version. I had to have it! Luckily for me it was birthday time. Nothing better than a receiving something you love as a gift. I opted for the 11" version and am so impressed with the quality. The only negative about this bag is it's still pretty big but you can't really fit anything in it! Even after using it daily for the past month the leather is very rigid. Hopefully it will soften a bit and I will be able to fit more in it. As long as it doesn't lose it's shape!

no flash

For a bit of school girl chic just add a bowler hat...

If you're interested in how the 11" looks size wise:

What colour would you go for? If I was going to get another one I think it would have to be this purple one, isn't it just the most amazing shade?!

A Guided Tour... Kitchen

2012-02-26T12:00:00.000Z

Next up on the little tour is our kitchen. Although I love it I wouldn't have chosen the colour scheme Gray wanted. He has promised that I can decorate the kitchen when we move and it is definitely going to include a pink smeg fridge and a pink kitchenaid stand mixer. It's going to be girlie but not too kitsch-y and will need to have more space for all my baking equipment. I am (not very) secretly hoping we can get one that can fit an island in it like this one I saw in John Lewis the other day, lush.

I love the high gloss units, apart from looking good they are also really easy to clean. Result! The washing up gloves are Gray cos that's his job ;) The cupcake print is a photo of a cupcake I made that Gray photoshopped for me and turned into this work of art, I love it!

Magic Pants!

2012-02-24T08:00:00.006Z

Not something you'd normally admit to owning but sometimes you just need a pair of Magic Knickers!! I've been asked a few times by other bloggers if I own any or can give recommendations and the answer is most definitely yes!

Gok Wan may be a massive over accessoriser but one thing he does well is create shape wear. I have had a pair of his now discontinued 'slicker knickers' from Simply Yours for a good five years and I swear by them. Funnily enough I bought them when I was at my smallest (isn't that always the way) and love how they pull me in and smooth me out. I wear them over the top of my tights so went for a black pair, they really do work wonders. Just don't wear them if you're going out for a massive meal as you will be uncomfortable by the end of it!

The pants that replaced the Slicker Knicker are called Brief Encounters and retail at £18. They have a vintage look about them and thankfully are no where near as ugly as most hold it all in pants.

It feels good to share this information with you guys, like the time when I confessed to being a lover of shoulder pads!

*this post is in collaboration with Simply Yours*

Wednesday Wants

2012-02-22T08:00:00.000Z

Slightly different format this week, it doesn't just include dresses! Is full of lace again though, standard for me at the moment.

When it comes to this dress all I can say is WOW!! I love everything about it, it's just perfect. If I get to target I am going to treat myself to this for a friends wedding and go barelegged (a MAJOR thing for me!) therefore avoiding the dreaded bumblebee look.

Dress: Darling

I really want a lace blazer and love this one by River Island... I already have two pink jackets though, can you make it in another colour way for me please RI!! Purple would be ace, thanks.

Jacket: River Island

How gorgeous is this Oasis lace skirt?! I love how bright and how full it is. It looks great worn as per the model below but would also look amazing against black opaques and a black top. Beautiful.

Skirt: Oasis

What have you been lusting after this week?

Instagram Installment

2012-02-21T08:00:00.001Z

Very late to this party, I have finally gotten round to using my instagram account! Now I have dug it out of the folder it was hiding in I am planning on uploading regular outfit snaps when I am wearing something new or a new combination along with the usual food and random items I usually tweet using twitpic. Follow me if you fancy it, my username just for a change is amilliondresses

Last few outfit photos - I have mostly been wearing bright pinks and blues, spots, stripes and leopard print. Oh and lots of new blazers!! I cannot remember the last time I wore floral and I used to live in that print, isn't it funny how tastes change! Will blog some of these clothes soon:

A Guided Tour... My Living Room

2012-02-19T20:15:00.001Z

After catching glimpses in my instagram feed Hannah asked to see more of our flat so after a quick very scientific twitter survey I found out that you lot are just like me, nosy! It feels a bit strange sticking photos of my safe place on the interweb but I too enjoy reading this kind of post, I am especially loving reading how Helen is getting on as she renovates her new home.

I will split this into a few different posts and save my favourite place in the world (my bedroom!) til last. The flat was purchased off plan so really was a blank canvas to add our personality to. We chose grey as our neutral colour through out as it works better with brights than beige neutrals. I love how we can pretty much just change the curtains and cushions in the living room and have what feels like a completely different room (We've already done this once)

A few of the details:

I absolutely love sitting in this room, it's nice and cosy and the sofa is so comfortable especially when you stick your feet on the foot stool and chill with a good cup of tea. If you want to know where anything is from just shout, we've got quite a bit of stuff in the living room so it would take an age to tell you where everything is from.

Wednesday Wants

2012-02-15T08:15:00.000Z

Another week and I've got more pretty dresses to tempt you (me) with. I love lace and as long as it's of a nice quality I think it always looks great. The following dresses add a refreshing twist with their use of white lace and sorbet colours and are most definitely right at the top of my current wish list. Perfection.

Dress: River Island

Dress: Topshop

What do you have your eye on this week?

Missguided Aldara - Five Ways To Wear

2012-02-14T08:28:00.001Z

My love for the Missguided Aldara dress is well documented so when the lovely people at Missguided challenged me to style their dress my way for varying occasions how could I refuse?! To make it clear from the onset the dresses are mine and all paid for by me, Missguided have however gifted me one of their gorgeous bright pink Violetta jackets which is worn below.

Casual - For shopping trips & generally chilling out at the weekend this is how I am currently wearing my Aldara. It's so comfy to wear with a slouchy jumper over it and my favourite boots. My gorgeous gold satchel adds a bit of glamour and of course in this baltic weather I stick a coat on too!

Valentines - Pink to make the boys wink. We are going for a couple of drinks followed by a cozy night in with a yummy home cooked meal this V-day so I will be lounging around in the pink Aldara teamed with my cute New Look flats and slouchy Warehouse blazer. Lollipop optional.

Lunch with the girls - I love meeting my girls for some good food & even better chats and tend to go for dressy/casual. Here I have teamed the burnt orange Aldara with my favourite Office leopard lace ups and Warehouse clutch. To dress it down a bit I am also wearing my tan Next cardigan and have finished it off with a tan belt.

Wedding - My favourite of all my Aldaras, this colour is honestly beautiful. As seen on this post I love to team it with my old faithful Topshop Cardigan and a gold belt. I have also added a pair of purple mid heel courts from Dorothy Perkins and a black and gold studded clutch from River Island. If I was actually going to a wedding wearing this I think I would find something better to wear in my hair. I don't often wear hats or fascinators to weddings but think something gold and glitzy would look great!

Night out - For a night out I would stay faithful to the LBD and go for the black Aldara. I'm not sure if I have shrunk it or if it has always been shorter than the others but it's the perfect length for a night out. I have teamed it with this great Missguided bright pink blazer and a slick of Topshop 'All about me' lipstick. The amazing PPQ for Office platform wedge Mary Jane's are Sara Luxe's fault. I love that they give me a lot of height with no discomfort, win/win! Oh and they were only £24, wow. Finally I have added a stripy clutch from River Island which is a must to carry my night out essentials.

Do you own the Aldara yet? How do you wear yours?

**Edit - I'm on the Missguided blog today, love how they have displayed my photos!**

Laser Love

2012-02-12T20:00:00.000Z

I forgot I had this dress. I bought it after this wishlist post but had to exchange it and down size. I kinda just hung it up when the replacement arrived, exchanging dresses takes the fun out of new arrivals! I was digging around looking for something to throw on this morning and out it came. I love how the unusual laser cut design stops it from being just another black dress and makes it something a bit special. I teamed it with my new Missguided blazer for a blast of colour and ended up with the perfect lazy Sunday outfit. Today has been mostly filled with slices of cake (all WW of course!) and few cups of green tea whilst catching up with friends.

Dress: asos

Blazer: c/o Missguided

I really must clear my main wardrobe out, can't find anything as it's all squished together :( My other two wardrobes are full as are the storage bags under the bed/on top of the wardrobes... I can't be bothered with selling on eBay and am not sure I like the idea of a blog sale to be honest. Anyone wanna organise a swishing party??! Maybe I should just be good and donate them to charity. What do you guys do with clothes you no longer wear?

Wednesday Wants

2012-02-08T08:01:00.000Z

I am loving the ice cream pastels around at the moment, I may as well make the most of it whilst I still have a tan and they work with my current skin tone! I especially love wearing these colours with black opaques and accessories, I feel like they make the pastel colours work better on me and of course make them much more suited for wearing RIGHT NOW! Who says you need to wait til Spring hey?!

I love the colour of this first Zara dress and of course the back detail. Bit obsessed with pretty backs right now. As long as you can still wear a bra with them though, none of this low back no bra rubbish!

Dress: Zara

Not sure I would be able to pull this colour off with my non tanned skin although the black collar will help as peach always looks worse when it's right next to my face! Comes in other colourways but this is definitely the hottest.

Dress: Zara

How cute is this little number?! The colour/lace/little button detail are all perfect. The model is pretty cute too making me want it even more. I only own one green item and it's a bright green so I think I need a bit of mint/sage in my wardrobe!

Dress: asos

What items are you lusting after this week?

Share The Love with Own The Runway!

2012-02-07T07:39:00.004Z

The lovely people at Own The Runway are running a fantastic Valentine's competition and have sent me one of my wishlist items as an early Valentines pressie and all the info so I can tell you beautiful things how you can win your very own gift!

The competition is running via their Facebook page and you can win a different item each day this week. To enter you need to like their page, share the picture and email competition@owntherunway.com with your name, address and required size. Good luck and I hope you manage to win your perfect Valentines look!!

I loved this gold dress from the moment I saw it on their website. Gold and black is the perfect colour combination that wins me over time and time again. Add a blazer with sharp shoulders, a pair of patent mary janes and a gold and black studded clutch and I've got the perfect outfit for a Valentines dinner with my beloved. Oh and don't forget a slick of red lippy (I'm wearing hazard by Topshop) so you can leave your mark...

And because no dress is just for Valentines I will be rocking this dress as day wear with my favourite gold heeled boots and a black slouchy jumper. How would you wear this dress?

Lilac Dreams

2012-02-06T07:30:00.002Z

Remember the new candy coloured lace dress from Missguided that I just had to own? I managed to restrain myself and only order three of them and have finally chosen which is my favourite. No big surprise which one it is, there's a bit of a give away in the post title!!

Dress: Missguided

Cardigan: Really old from Topshop

I ditched the tan belt and added a gold one to go with the gold bits on my new New Look flats. Absolutely gorgeous but will have to stretch them a bit as they rub across the wide bit of my foot :( Boooooo!!

I am also showing off my latest lipstick purchase - Love forever! by Mac. It's my first Mac lipstick and I am not too keen on the texture to be honest. This could just be because it's one of their longwear lipsticks and maybe more drying so I won't write them off just yet. I wanted a hot pink lipstick and this was the best one I could find. My sister thinks it looks like I have stolen my Gran's lipstick... what do you guys think of the shade??

Spotlight on - FYFO

2012-02-05T14:41:00.000Z

Fuel Your Fashion Online or FYFO sell a wide range of womens shoes and when they asked me if I fancied reviewing a pair and their site I jumped at the chance! Like dresses a girl can never own too many shoes, right?! They have so many amazing pairs to choose from. My absolute favourites are these ones but they were unavailable in my size at the time :(

TUK Shoes

Perfection, hey! I had a good browse around their site and couldn't choose which one item I liked the most and sent them a list of three things so they could send surprise me with one of them and they certainly did when all three arrived! Their delivery service was good especially seeings as it is free and they offer a 60 day return period which also impressed me. I found their site a little hard to navigate round you can't right click. This is quite annoying as I like to open all items that catch my eye by right clicking and then looking thru my choices at the end of browsing to pick which ones I am going to buy.

Anyway onto the goodies... I have been sent two pairs of shoes and a laptop bag for review.

TUK Bolt Shoes*

Riva Block Heels*

Irregular Choice Laptop Bag*

I loved the purple shoes because they are the perfect height for the office and go really well my my favourite cardigan! They are lovely and comfy and because of the little heel I get to wear ballet flats without the usual pain across my wide foot, win/win!

I adore the lightening bolt detail on these otherwise plain courts. I love a mid court for a night out, I struggle with huge heels these days but being only 5'5" still need a bit of height otherwise I am dwarfed by my 6 foot husband. And to think I used to be able to shop all day in 5" heels!

The last item is this kooky laptop bag by Irregular Choice. Most people at work use the standard boring black laptop bag that is supplied with their laptop (me included!) and although I already stand out enough at work (trousers?! NO THANKS!) I like how it stands out and makes a statement. I also love that it's made of felt even if it means that it's not fully waterproof.

What would you have picked? They have so many lovely things!

*these items have been sent to me by FYFO for review but the opinions expressed are my own and entirely honest.

Birthday Frock

2012-02-03T07:30:00.006Z

I wanted to share better pics than the one on Mondays post of my birthday dress, it's so pretty that it deserves a post of it's own :) I ended up having three lots of birthday celebrations and wore this dress to all three! That must be love. I had an amazing birthday and ate lots of yummy food, on my actual birthday I was treated to a slap up steak meal, the next evening a Michelin recommended Chinese and on the Saturday I spent the day shopping with my BFF's which ended with another meal (this is why I am always on a diet!) and several cocktails. This dress was perfect for all three. I love the scoop back detail and the fullness to the skirt.

It's also the perfect match for my new Chanel lipstick! It's hard to believe now that less than six months ago I hardly ever wore lipstick. Since I bought that knock out red for my wedding I have purchased another red and this lovely fuchsia pink. It's such a wearable shade and I love the way Chanel lipsticks feel on my lips, not at all drying. It's shade 68 - emotive.

Wednesday Wants

2012-02-01T07:30:00.003Z

I thought this week I would do something a little different and share a few items from smaller brands that have caught my eye. All of these brands are also available via Topshop.com which is where I first discovered them and make some really lovely pieces. I find that the sizing tends to come up smaller than Topshop's own brand (thanks Vanity Sizing!)

First up is this beauty from Jones & Jones. I don't actually own anything by this brand yet as I am always worried about the length but this is just so pretty I might just have to take the plunge!! I think it is really reasonable at only £60, it is also available in black the peach option is my favourite and I think it will look ace with black opaques.

Dress: Jones & Jones

Next up is Goldie. I own this gorgeous dress by them which I will share with you shortly. I got a S/M and it fits me nicely as a large size 10. I love the fabrics they use and the cut of their dresses. Can't wait to share my little beauty with you all!

Dress: Goldie

Last up is Sister Jane. I am constantly drooling over their wares on the Topshop website. Unfortunately a lot of them are too unforgiving over the tummy for me to wear but that doesn't stop me lusting! I have the scalloped collar dress from their 'our golden days' collection and absolutely love it. It is really well made and of great quality. I love everything about this dress especially the 90's grunge styling:

Dress: Sister Jane

Share your favourite brand discoveries with me please guys!!

Fancy winning a trip to New York?!

2012-01-31T08:01:00.002Z

I was in the middle of my usual evening browse round the interweb when I decided to check out what Bank had to offer. I found more than I bargained for as they are currently running a competition to win a trip to New York!! The prize is a trip to New York for 2 people for 3 nights, with flights and a 3 star hotel. You don't have to buy from them to enter and it only takes a few seconds to fill in the required details. I've got my fingers crossed that I am the lucky one but if one of you win can I be your plus one please?! You can enter here

I also spotted a couple of lovely dresses hidden amongst the stuff I always wonder who buys:

Dress 1

Dress 2

Very nice, I especially love the colour of the first one. Have you browsed the Bank website recently? If like me you haven't you might be pleasantly surprised!

Fetish Frocks

2012-01-30T07:30:00.002Z

Okay not really a fetish but I do love leather. I have been looking for my perfect leather dress for what feels like a lifetime and I am almost there! Almost because it's not real leather but PU but hey I can ignore that fact til I find THE dress.

Dress: Oasis

I went shopping to Birmingham for my birthday on Saturday and was way too excited to find this dress was already in store as this picture taken in the Oasis changing rooms shows. Oh dear.

I am wearing another recent Oasis purchase in this photo, the Look Dream dress. This dress is pretty much perfect, a great colour and a flattering cut (sizing comes up a bit big if you're wondering) all for the now bargain price of £25!! I managed to get the dress for £20 from my local Outfit as it was missing the bow belt, great result for me as IMHO the belt look tacky and totally spoils the dress so I would never have used it.

What's your must have go to (P)leather item? For me recently it's been this pleather Primark skirt but I am happy to say that this gorgeous leather skirt fits me again, RESULT!!

(photo from 2008, ha!)

Viva la Diva!

2012-01-29T11:15:00.000Z

I have become a bit obsessed with shoes again recently. After wearing the same few pairs all the time even though I have way over 100 pairs to choose from they have started to infiltrate my lust list again. Even though I have quite small feet (size 4.5 to be precise) I struggle with them being quite wide and most flats seem to leave me with sore spots on the widest bit. I can't normally wear cute little ballerinas because of this and we all know how cute they look with a pretty skater dress. Hope is on the horizon though with these wide fit shoes from Viva la Diva, aren't they gorgeous?!

Bow shoes

Contrast shoes

I love the bow and stud details on the black ones, they are pretty much my ideal ballet flats. The navy and cream ones will be great for Spring when no doubt nautical colours will be everywhere. I still struggle to wear black shoes with navy and I can't be the only one!

Viva la Diva also stock loads of shoes for those blessed with regular shaped feet. Their brand listing is extensive including Kurt Geiger, Schuh and Irregular Choice, worth knowing if you are trying to hunt down that must have sales bargain in your size! My top three pairs have to be:

Carvella

Schuh

Viva la Diva

The first pair are just perfect, purple Mary Jane's will always be a winner in my eyes. I ADORE the heel detail on the Schuh pair & the nude colour means they will go with everything. The third pair are the ones most likely to end up at the bottom of my wardrobe, as much as I love the look of sky scraper platforms I just cannot walk in the damn things! Why must something so beautiful be such an object of torture?! The quilted detail and gold studs of the mid heels fits in perfectly with my style and I know I could wear these 24/7 without a grimace in sight!!

Has anyone ordered from Viva la Diva before? I want to know what the service is like before I place my order.

*this post is in collaboration with Viva la Diva*

Wednesday Wants

2012-01-25T11:30:00.002Z

I recently came across Own The Runway and have managed to create a whole wishlist from their stock this week! Has anyone ordered from them before? The first dress would be perfect for an upcoming wedding...

Dress 1

Dress 2

Dress 3

I love the gold metallic fabric of the second dress, I have the gold velvet Topshop dress & I like to dress it down with a little black jumper and think this would look great worn that way too. Gives a nice pop of gold fabric without being too OTT for day wear. I have quite a few dresses similar to the third dress but with a higher neckline. They always make for such comfy office wear whilst still looking smart.

Let me know if you have ordered anything from them before, I would love to hear your experiences.

Missguided Love!

2012-01-19T12:39:00.002Z

All I can say is WOW! Just when I thought I couldn't love the Aldara dress more Missguided only go and release it in the most amazing colours...

I have my eye on the fuschia, cyan blue and lilac... which ones are on your wishlist?

Personally I will be losing the tan belt and wearing them with black tights right now and switching to leggings when it's not so nippy. For a quick recap as to how the dress looks on a non-model (haha!) see here and here

Wednesday Wants

2012-01-18T07:45:00.002Z

Following on from my lovely new scarf print dress I have been coveting shirt dresses and have been mostly disappointed by what's currently on offer. That's until I spotted this gorgeous Oasis dress that is now at the top of my wishlist! I usually avoid yellow and black as that combo makes me feel like I'm in fancy dress as a bumble bee but I think the white stops this from happening... are you in agreement with me?!

Dress: Oasis

I was only complaining in last weeks Wednesday Wants that I can't wait to see some fresh stock and asos came to the rescue! They have had a massive drop of dresses in the last week or so, there are so many really nice ones. My two favourites (I think!!) are these two:

Dress: asos

How amazing is that laser cut detail on the first dress? I love it! I know I already have the second asos dress in a different colour way but it's still a favourite and purple and black is THE winning combination in my eyes!

Review - Accessories Direct

2012-01-15T17:06:00.000Z

When Accessories Direct asked me if I would like to review one of their handbags I jumped at the chance, they have so many gorgeous bags to choose from! I definitely hit gold when they picked out New York handbag by Kate Benjamin for me, have you seen that bow?!

The bag is made out of a heavy satin and is of great quality. I love the flash of colour inside and the little gold strap, gold hardware is always a winner in my books. Most of all I love that bow. It's just so damn pretty. I can see this bag getting lots of love from me as it goes with everything and is the perfect size to fit my essentials in (purse, card holder, phone, powder compact, lipstick and camera in case you were wondering!)

The service from Accessories Direct was fab too, standard delivery is free with orders over £30 and the bag only took two working days to arrive. It was well packaged and wrapped in tissue paper which makes you feel like you're getting a pressie rather than spending some of your own hard earned cash! I'm off to check out the rest of their stock...

*The bag was sent to me to review, the above is my honest opinion*

Scarf Prints And Studs

2012-01-13T07:19:00.001Z

Boy am I glad it's Friday! I cannot wait for a lie in tomorrow, it's going to be heaven. I've been cooing over this dress in Topshop for a few weeks, lovingly stroking the silky fabric whilst ignoring Gray telling me how ugly it is... I gave in last week and took it to the changing rooms and instantly knew it had to be mine! I love how it feels and the pop of colour to my recently very black wardrobe. I have teamed it with a slouchy studded jacket that I picked up from Warehouse in the sale and feel nicely smart. I actually wore this outfit out to a party last Saturday but think it works just as well for work.

My hair is very long for me at the moment, it's annoying the hell out of me! It's also all one length as I had to grow down the side bits for my wedding beehive. I'm getting it cut next week and it cannot come soon enough! I have had a very similar hair cut for the past 15 or so years - it just varied in length and colour - do you stick to a style that you know suits you or are you more adventurous with your hair than me?

Apologies for all the crap you can see down the side of the wardrobe, the spare room still hasn't quite recovered from being turned into a storage unit for the past six months! I am getting there but still need to find a home in our flat for a few things, how do I even have so much STUFF?!

Dress: Topshop

Jacket: Warehouse

Boots: Topshop

These are my absolute favourite boots right now, so comfy and the gold heel makes them stand out. I have had so many compliments on what other wise would be just another pair of black boots. I really, really want to get a back up pair but they have sold out online and I haven't been able to find a pair of 5's in any of my local stores so if you spot a pair please let me know and I will love you forever!

Paper cuts

2012-01-12T07:15:00.004Z

I love paper cuts.

I am obsessed with Rob Ryan (but could never justify the ££ to own an original, sob!)

And I cannot get enough of these beautiful cards by Storey Shop on etsy, these are the ones I bought to use for my wedding but I had already bought several to frame as they are just so damn cool! My personal favourite is the 'You had me at hello' one, check them out and see how many you add to your basket!!

We even made our own paper cut art work to hang in our bedroom which we framed between two sheets of glass. Sorry for the iPhone photos but it was late & I was being lazy! Cutting by hand takes a lot of time and patience but it's very worth it:

When we were looking at wedding invitations we knew that we wanted them to be a) simple b) involve paper cuts c) be handmade and this is what we came up with:

We didn't cut these by hand though we invested in a paper cutting machine... I know right? A machine that will do it all for you! It wasn't cheap at about £240 but we used it to cut all of our invitations, the paper flowers and the vinyl we used to etch jam jars so we definitely got our moneys worth. It's really easy to use, you just design your work on their software and then send it to 'print'. It works just like a printer except a blade replaces the ink cartridge. We did say that we would make any cards we need in future on it too but that hasn't happened yet, oops!

Wednesday Wants

2012-01-11T07:45:00.003Z

I'm getting bored of seeing the same old sales stock in stores now and cannot wait for the influx of new goodies... I already have my eye on this little New Look beauty but it doesn't hit the rails til March

(apologies for the poor quality iPhone photo!)

Thankfully there have been a few gorgeous new arrivals this week to keep me going:

Dress: Miss Selfridge

Dress: Missguided

Dress: Boohoo

The Missguided one has to be my favourite, only problem is deciding which colours to buy! I think my favourites are the fuschia and the teal, just think how good they will look with a tan and some gold sandals come spring!!

Check Us Out!!

2012-01-09T09:27:00.001Z

I am absolutely thrilled to inform you that today our wedding is featured on my absolute favourite wedding blog, the one and only Rock n Roll Bride!! eeeekkkkkk! I cannot explain how excited this makes me.

For those of you who don't read wedding blogs (you have no idea what treats you are missing!) Rock n Roll Bride is one of the most popular wedding blogs in the world and was recently awarded a Cosmopolitan Blog Award (Where I got to fan-girled the owner Kat after a few cosmos!) The weddings featured are elective, inspiring and damn right amazing. I am ecstatic that our wedding has made the cut, one very proud newly wed!

Rock n Roll Bride is also special to me as it's from admiring the many beautiful pictures that grace it's pages that I found our wedding photographer, Sassy. Sassy (and Frank!) made these beautiful images possible, not only does she know how to take a good photo she knows how to make sure you take a good photo which believe me isn't an easy task where I am concerned. I am incredibly awkward in front of the camera and find it really hard to relax and generally hate having my photo taken. We had an engagement shoot with Sassy to help fix some of these issues which I would really recommend to any couple wanting to get the most from their wedding photos. It also meant that by the time of the wedding it was like having a mate take your photos, we had great fun getting our shots and I think that shows.

Please show us some love and go comment, it really would make my day :)

THE Dress!!

2012-01-06T07:40:00.000Z

Thought it was about time I shared with you guys the most important dress of my life... my wedding dress!! Those of you who follow me on twitter will have seen a few photos already but it definitely deserves a post of it's own. I am so happy with the way it turned out. I went to my dressmaker, Karen at Stella Liliana, with an idea of how I wanted my dress to be, she worked her magic and it turned out to be even more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed. It really, really is my dream dress.

Just look at the detail on the back, hundreds of hand sewn pearls and crystals

Finished off with a massive bow :)

Of course I wasn't the only one wearing a pretty dress. As all my bridesmaids are blessed with great legs I decided to mix things up a bit and put them in my favourite short party dress! I own this Oasis beauty myself and knew it would fit with my dress just perfectly. I saved a fair bit of money on the dresses as it was a good few seasons old and I managed to get them all from eBay, the cheapest one was only £5 including p&p, what a bargain!

We also had Gray's beautiful baby niece as a bridesmaid and she wore a very pretty dress from BHS and the cutest little pair of Converse. Isn't she just a picture!

BIG love ♥♥♥

I have some very exciting news to share with you on Monday and I cannot wait!!

(I know that the landscape photos are too big for the page but the next size option is just too small! I don't know how to make them fit or a certain size so if anyone can help me out & explain it in simple terms I would really appreciate it!!)

Spotlight on... Marisota

2012-01-06T07:15:00.000Z

Like me you may have thought that you could only get women's plus size clothing from Marisota but that is so not the case. Marisota offer clothing from a size 12 and also sell a huge selection of shoes and bags. Sounds like my idea of heaven! Even better their next day delivery service is only £3.99 and if you're a first time buyer a little prompt when you visit their homepage will offer you a nice 20% discount. Happy New Year to you too Marisota!

I adore the print and of course the Peter Pan collar on this Rise beauty (did I mention they also stock Rise clothing??)

Dress: Marisota

This sheer spotty number is so hot right now I think I may have to order myself an early birthday pressie, isn't it gorgeous!

They also stock homeware which I had a quick browse thru and as a result really want this gorgeous set... time to redecorate my bedroom so it will fit?!

Bedding

*this post is in collaboration with Marisota*

Wednesday Wants

2011-12-21T08:15:00.000Z

I feel a bit like I am waiting for the sales to hurry up and be over so the shops will get some new stock in... there really isn't much out there I want at the moment which is really strange for this time of the year when I usually want to buy EVERYTHING!! I have spotted a few little gems though...

Dress: Oasis

Dress: Boohoo

Dress: Missguided

I am loving the wine colour that is everywhere again this winter along with the fact that I can actually buy dresses with sleeves!! Amazing.

In case you didn't know the River Island sale starts exclusively online today. Does anyone know when the Topshop sale starts this year? There are a few over priced bits of knitwear that I am hoping to pick up with a nice bit of discount!! What are you hoping to get from the sales this year?

I'm Back!!

2011-12-19T12:26:00.000Z

Hey you guys!! I am back and with an outfit post... AND I'M NOT WEARING A DRESS!! shocker. I had an amazing wedding and an idyllic honeymoon and am now getting into the Christmas spirit. Luckily we managed to get almost all of our Christmas shopping done on Saturday and I managed to pick up a few things for myself, it had to be done after three weeks of no shopping ;) Sorry for the rushed photos but I couldn't wait to actually blog again and have been rushed off my feet since we got home. I will get round to blogging the dress and some general wedding photos soon I promise.

Jumper: Topshop

Skirt: Primark

Shoes: Office

It feels so good to be back and have a spare 10 minutes for blogging, I really have missed it. Are you all ready for Christmas? Show me what you're going to be wearing over the festive season :)

Impulse & Lipsy Very Pink Winners

2011-11-15T23:50:00.000Z

Hey guys the winners of the three Lipsy dresses have been picked at random using Random.org... they are:

Lauren-Ella

Aime-K

FeeneyFooFoo

Well done girls :)

Please email me at amilliondresses.gmail.com with your address and dress size so I can pass this on to the PR company. I checked earlier today and the dress is currently available in all sizes.

Something For The Weekend

2011-11-05T10:11:00.000Z

Sigh. Someone please, please, please buy me this dress...

Dress: Oasis

Let's Talk About Coats!

2011-11-02T07:53:00.001Z

Unusually for me I have had difficulty finding the perfect winter coat this year. I normally spot the perfect coat as soon as they hit the shops and snap it up right there and look lovingly at it for a few weeks til it's finally cold enough for me to wear it. I made my move yesterday and this is what I have gone for:

Coat: Miss Selfridge

I didn't think much of this when I first saw it online but they had a return in my local Miss S and I fell in love. Wasn't my size so when I found they only had one left online and in my size I knew it was meant to be!! Can't wait for it to arrive :)

My other contenders were...

Coat: Warehouse

Absolutely adore the colour of this one but was put off by the belt and the massive pockets.

Coat: River Island

Everything is perfect about this apart from the length, just too long for me. Would be my dream coat if only it was shorter/not so expensive to have it taken up!

Coat: Dahlia

This was nearly mine but the contrast detailing on the Miss S coat stole my heart!

Coat: Topshop

This only came online yesterday and hasn't actually been available to buy (think they have the price wrong, a similar one is £250!!) but it's beautiful and if it does end up being stocked at £98 I think I will have to make it mine.

Have you bought your winter coat yet? What did you go for?

Impulse & Lipsy Very Pink - Now Closed

2011-10-30T18:31:00.002Z

The lovely people at Impulse and Lipsy have offered me not one but three of their limited edition Very Pink dresses to giveaway to you lovely lot. Great timing as I have just hit a massive 600 followers, thanks guys!! Whilst the dress isn't something I have the figure for that doesn't mean that you should miss out on the chance to win a new frock!

Not only will the lucky winners win a dress worth £65 they will also win a can of impulse Very Pink which inspired the dress.

Impulse say... Every girl has been there and experienced that nail-biting panic. What shall I wear for that special occasion? Well help is at hand courtesy of your favourite fragrance, Impulse. Impulse has teamed up with hot fashion brand, Lipsy, to create a limited edition, exclusive dress to celebrate one of the brand's latest fragrances 'Very Pink'. The two top brands have paired up to offer a stunning off shoulder Very Pink dress with a delicate drape sleeve and charming embellishment at the waist. Guaranteed to ensure you dazzle whether you're on a romantic date or a night out with the girls.

I say what are you waiting for, get entering!!

To enter please leave a comment below. You must be a follower of a million dresses via GFC. Unfortunately the competition is open to UK readers only. As the dress is limited edition Lipsy can't 100% guarantee that the winner will receive their required dress size, they will ensure the closet possible size is provided. The competition closes on Sunday 6th November at 6pm and the winners will be chosen at random using random.org. Good luck!!

The Cosmo Blog Awards 2011

2011-10-28T09:06:00.000+01:00

Thank you so so much to everyone who took the time and voted for Where Are My Knees! I am sure you've all read our tweets by now but in case you missed them we were highly commended (i.e. we came second!!) Totally over the moon with the result and I guess that means we can say we write an award winning blog now :) The full list of winners can be found here. I am a totally crap blogger and took a total of one photo during the whole event so have stolen photos from various places...

Photo booth fun via Photobooth.co.uk

With my fellow WAMKer Gemma

Me, Lauren, Olivia, Jazmine and Caroline

With my roomies, Lily, Gemma, Lauren, Olivia and Lyzi

A couple of photos stolen from the MissGuided facebook page
The link above takes you straight there if you want to see more.

And a street style one from the Cosmo site
again there are more if you click the link

I'm like a rabbit in headlights but you get to see my whole outfit in this one. I am wearing an old Topshop dress that I LOVE, with a boohoo jacket, Dorothy Perkins heels and the red River Island clutch I searched high and low for. I felt like a million dollars :)

Wednesday Wants - Award Fabulous!

2011-10-26T08:15:00.002+01:00

Tonight I am attending the Cosmo blog awards on behalf of my collaborative blog where are my knees. The dress code is award fabulous so this weeks wishlist is all sparkly! They would be great for the looming Christmas parties too. I love all of these dresses and hopefully one day they will all suit me...

Dress: asos

Dress: Zara

Dress: Rare via Topshop

Dress: asos

Dress: Warehouse

Dress: Topshop

What would you have chosen to wear? Please link me to your favourite glamorous dresses :) I am definitely cracking out the sequins tonight, I cannot wait. So, so excited. Please keep your fingers crossed for us, it would be AMAZING to actually win!! Will share my outfit photos with you soon, keep your eye on my twitter to find out who wins what :)

Engagement Photos

2011-10-25T08:35:00.001+01:00

Hello my lovelies. My life is really hectic right now, it's only about a month til I get married!! Eeeekkk where as the time gone?! I still have a fair bit of DIY to finish before the big day which is filling every spare moment between work, dress fittings, hen nights and attending some amazing events which I am so incredibly excited about!

Tomorrow night I am going to the cosmo blog awards with two of the other where are my knees writers Sarah and Gemma, I am sure we will all be tweeting like crazy whilst at the event so make sure you keep an eye out in case we actually win or something silly like that... how amazing would that be?!

Luckily I was able to find the time to have some engagement photos taken. Both the boyf and I hate being in front of the camera. I feel very awkward and forced so it was important to me to meet our wedding photographer before hand so she could work out how on earth she was going to get some good photos of us on the day. Did I also mention that I HATE PDA?! Kinda hard to avoid on your wedding day! haha. Thankfully Sassy is one talented lady and I can actually say that I enjoyed having my photo taken for the first time ever. I love the way they have turned out especially since the boyf has trimmed down the tops of my arms for me... just need to get this body in real life now ;) The dress I am wearing is from Topshop and even though it's from the tall range it's the perfect length on me.

Wednesday Wants

2011-10-19T08:15:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, these weeks are flying by and I am aware that I haven't gotten round to posting again this week. I hope to rectify this real soon. A few beauties have caught my eye this week...

Dress: asos

Dress: New Look

Just lovely! I think the asos is my favourite, I love the black band round the waist, makes it look tiny. What have you guys been coveting this week?

Wednesday Wants

2011-10-12T08:15:00.001+01:00

A wishlist with a difference this week... I can't get enough of leopard print at the moment and there's so many amazing pieces that I just had to share with you lot!

Dress: asos

Boots: asos

Clutch: Warehouse

Coat: New Look

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Shoes: Topshop

Just gorgeous yeah?! I love the asos dress but am a bit worried that being made of fake fur it would look a bit like a fancy dress costume. BUT IT'S SO LOVELY! I want them all and will have to resist the urge to wear them all together...

Wednesday Wants

2011-10-05T08:15:00.000+01:00

I had to succumb to the sunshine at the weekend and switch from my beloved tights back to leggings :( BUT the weather is getting back to normal and the tight wearing can recommence! Yay. One thing I love about the influx of A/W clothing is the reappearance of velvet. I adore velvet, the texture, the appearance - it just looks so opulent. It's always in such lovely rich jewel colours too which make me very happy. Topshop are usually my go to shop for a velvet dress and they haven't let me down this year. I had to order both of these as soon as I laid eyes on them, so gorgeous!

Dress: Topshop

How amazing is this?! Seriously if I could design my perfect velvet dress it would look like this. Maybe minus the glitter spots and of course available in several colours! This little beauty is arriving today, I hope it isn't a let down!

Dress: Topshop

I already have this dress in a few different colours but in a jersey fabric for my honeymoon and it fits so well. I had difficulty choosing between this yummy wine colour and the blue version but the wine just edged it. A few other dresses are screaming buy me this week too, a good influx of new stock!

Dress: Goldie via Topshop

The colour, the sleeves and the (p)leather collar sold this dress to me. How amazing is that collar?! Quite pricey at £64 but the details make it worth it.

Dress: Miss Selfridge

How cute is this?! I love everything about it from the colours to the little details to the actual fabric. I really ~~want~~ need this dress!

Wednesday Wants

2011-09-28T16:32:00.000+01:00

I am not happy about this mini heatwave! I've just got all comfy again in my 120 deniers and snuggly cardis and I do not want to give them up... I am going to suck it up and try not to swelter in this heat whilst still wearing my favourite autumnal pieces. Enough of moaning about the weather and onto a few of the items that have caught my eye this week:

Dress: Boohoo

I already have a dress in this style from asos, I really love it and wouldn't mind adding this colourway to my collection. This one is from boohoo.com and is a fraction of the price, in fact you could buy two from boohoo and still have some change!

Dress: Oasis

I'm not too sure on the white waistband but I really love the monotone of this dress, there's something really classic about dressing in just black and white with maybe a smearing of red lipstick!

Dress: Warehouse

I love the button detailing on this dress and think it would look great layered with a long sleeve top underneath as we head into A/W. Great colour too!

What have you got your eye on this week? Are you, like me, going to stick to your opaques and chunky knits or are you going to embrace the last of the summer and strip off?!

Skater Stripes

2011-09-24T19:29:00.000+01:00

I thought it was about time I got round to starting up outfit posts again. It's been far too long and I have really missed sharing my purchases with you guys. I have a kinda blank wall in my living room but as you can see the central heating controls are stuck in the way :( Please ignore these til I can start using my spare room again! My lovely boyfriend bought me this dress a couple of weeks ago and I love it! It's not as full skirted as I usually wear but I am not going to let that bother me. The only thing I am not keen on is the white band around the waist, would have been far more flattering in any of the other colours!

Dress: Warehouse

I don't think the horizontal stripes are that unflattering and I adore the mix of colours. I am loving purple and teal together at the moment. I'm off out soon for a big fat curry with friends, Slimming World friendly choices will be made! Have a great Saturday night whatever you're doing guys :)

Wednesday Wants

2011-09-21T08:21:00.000+01:00

Good morning all! Hope everyone is feeling good :) I am still on cloud 9 after WAMK being shortlisted for a Cosmo Blog Award. Seriously it is amazing. We had no idea we had even been nominated as we hadn't asked for nominations or put our little blog forward for one ourselves. Makes me so proud that WAMK obviously means as much to you guys as it does to us. The whole reason we set it up in the first place :)

Shockingly my Wednesday Wants does not include any dresses this week... I know right?! What is this tomfoolery! I have found that I enjoy wearing heels again now providing they are not the sky scrappers I used to wear ALL DAY. I seriously don't know how I used to live in heels as they kill my feet after about 5 minutes now. Yesterday I saw these and fell in love. I NEED!

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

Amazing. I am a closet magpie and love everything that glitters and sparkles but for some reason you can only really get away with it on the lead up to Christmas. Can't wait to crack out the sequins this year!

What's your can't live without item at the moment?

OMFG!!

2011-09-20T08:15:00.000+01:00

Where are my knees has only gone and got it's self nominated for a Cosmo blog award!!

We are all incredibly excited and cannot thank whoever nominated us enough, you rock.

Please, please take the time to vote for us, it would totally make our ~~day~~ life.

Wednesday Wants

2011-09-14T08:15:00.001+01:00

Hey, hey! I was going to shock you all today with a little outfit post but my skin has different ideas and has decided to rebel with a mini breakout party on my chin :( I can't wait to share what I have been buying with you all and I think I have found a wall to take photos against!! Soon, I promise!! Anyway onto the goodies for this week. I am hoping my lovely boyfriend reads this and decides to treat me to one or two items from it ;) Every girl deserves to be spoilt once in a while!

Dress: Warehouse

I adore the colours of this one, in fact I love them! Only thing that concerns me is how the stripes work around the waistband as I would only want it if all the stripes are straight and the dress is put together well.

Dress: Oasis

I know I have a zillion dresses very similar to this but this one has pockets which makes it a winner in my eyes and it's the perfect shade of purple. Looks like it would be a great length for work as well as play - I'm sold!

Dress: Twist & Tango via asos

Lace? Check! Crushed Velvet? Check! Gorgeous Fit? CHECK!! Not so great price? Check :( Ah well what is a wishlist if it doesn't contain an out of reach item or two?

Something For The Weekend!

2011-09-09T12:41:00.000+01:00

I saw this beautiful dress this morning and just had to share it:

Dress: Topshop

Isn't it just perfect?! It's by Jones and Jones and I think it's priced reasonably at £65.00. It only comes in sizes 8, 10 & 12 though so my question to you lot is how do Jones and Jones dresses fit? I think I may need this little beauty in my life :)

Illustrations by essbeevee

2011-09-02T08:15:00.003+01:00

It only feels like five minutes since I was bigging up one of my WAMK's girls and telling you all about the lovely Charlene's new project Dainty Nails and here I am again to tell you about the incredibly talented Sarah's illustration work. We're a creative lot I tell you.

I knew I wanted an illustration to use for my wedding and I knew that there was only one person who I wanted to draw it and luckily Sarah said yes. I absolutely love Sarah's work. You only have to look at the cute little drawings on her blog to see why. The nipped in waists, the cutesy faces and of course the dresses. Sarah sent me over some rough sketches to make sure she had captured my brief and then set to work to create this:

I am totally blown away, it's absolute gorgeous and far more beautiful than anything I imagined. I really, really recommend Sarah's work. After the amazing reaction of those who saw my very excited tweet Sarah has now created a page for those interested in commissioning an illustration. Prices start at just £35 and mine was definitely worth every penny spent and a whole lot more.

Thank you Sarah, it is perfect ♥

Button Bouquet Tutorial

2011-09-01T08:15:00.002+01:00

Sorry, long over due Button Bouquet Tutorial. This is really simple to make and the results are stunning. The hardest bit is finding enough buttons to match your colour scheme. It's also not a cheaper alternative to a fresh flower bouquet but it definitely costs less than the £200 most sellers seem to market them at.

You will need a mix of different size buttons in different finishes. I also bought sparkly earrings and rings and pulled the backs off them to make the overall bouquet prettier.

I used 26 gauge florist wire for this one and doubled them up for most stems. It needed to be very flexible so I could easily shape the bouquet and that the bouquet stem wouldn't end up too bulky with once all the individual stems were combined.

Take a selection of different buttons

Thread them onto the floristry wire

Each stem should look like this!

This stem is going to have an earring glued to it so I have wrapped a pipe cleaner around the head of the stem to give it some support. I made roughly 100 stems for the finished bouquet

Once you have all the completed stems twist bunches of them together and them wrap these bunches together til the bouquet starts to take shape.

To hide all the wires I purchased a bouquet holder. I didn't end up using this one as I managed to find a creamy lace one that matched my Sisters dress

I forgot to take photos of the next stages so will do my best to describe them:

Remove the bouquet holder and cover the stem in double sided carpet tape.

Tightly wrap ribbon around the stem from the bottom upwards. Tie the end at the top.

Replace the bouquet holder and add some ribbon tails if you wish. I did this by tying a length of ribbon round the bouquet and hid it under the holder allowing just the tails to peep out

I then covered the end of the holder with more carpet tape and ribbon.

The finished bouquet:

If you have any questions or need any help with any of the stages drop me an email or leave me a comment below :)

Wednesday Wants

2011-08-31T08:15:00.003+01:00

I'm in holiday mode already (for my honeymoon in November... I've a while to go yet!) and have been trying to hunt down little dresses that I can throw over my bikini and that will not end up all creased. It's not been too successful so far to be honest but I have found one little gem in Topshop. It's a lovely inky colour, nice and lightweight but not too lightweight that you can see every lump and bump and of course the perfect shape for me:

Dress: Topshop

It's actually petite and described as a tunic but don't let this put you off, it's the perfect length for holiday wear and actually a fair bit longer than some of my non-petite Topshop dresses. If you happen to have seen any dresses that you think will be perfect for me to get for my jollys please let me know in the comments below, thanks lovelies!

Paper Flowers - A tutorial

2011-08-30T08:15:00.000+01:00

I will admit it now, I don't really like cut flowers. There I said it. I much prefer them in a garden or park than stuck in a vase. Because of this I don't want lots of fresh flowers at my wedding so I have decided to make some paper ones instead. I will be using these flowers to make my bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets as well as for table decoration. They are simple to make so I thought I would create a little tutorial for those interested.

You will need:

Glue gun, 18 gauge florist wire, florist tape, sticky dots, florist pins, pliers, A4 Card

Wrap the florist tape around the florist wire til they are fully covered.

Cut a spiral out of the card.

I have a paper cutting machine so I cheat on this bit but they are simple to cut by hand.

Start rolling the card on itself

When you reach the centre of the card you will have a flower looking a bit like this.

If you want to make larger flowers you simply let it unravel a bit.

Once the flower is the required size put a few sticky dots under the flap to secure the layers

Put a floristy pin thru the centre of the flower

Using the pliers create a hook at one end of the coated wire

Glue the stem to the flower using the glue gun

Once dry use the florist tape to cover the glue

Voila! One finished paper flower :)

If you do make some please let me see a photo!!

Models Own Swatches - 50% off Sale

2011-08-24T19:03:00.002+01:00

I getting loads of hits from people googling to see swatches of Models Own nail polishes so thought I would put it all in one post to make it easier for you all. Unless you've been hiding under a rock you will know that Models Own are having an amazing 50% off sale at the moment, all you need to do is to stick a minimum of £20's worth of goodies in your basket and use the code FIFTYFIFTY. If, like me, you're reduced basket comes to over £25 you'll also qualify for free shipping. HOW GOOD IS THAT?! The sale is running til midnight on Monday 29th August.

I have over 50 different shades and swatches of most of them can be found by clicking on the links below:

Glitters
Disco Mix
Juicy Jules
Emerald City
Magenta Divine
Purple Haze
Scarlet Sparkle
Bluebelle

Bronze Rage
Gold Digger
24 Carat Gold
Champagne
Mystic Mauve
Lili's Pink
Blue Moon
Pearly Queen
Purple Pearl
Purple Mystique
Pink Fever
Raspberry Fool
Magenta Pearl
Blue Lagoon
Black Swirl
Tangerine Queen
Fluro' Orange
Black Magic
Mushroom
Purple Grey
Grey Day
Grace Green
Top Turquoise
Jade Stone
Feeling Blue
Blooboo
Lemon Meringue
Bubblegum
Pastel Pink
Vintage Pink
Fuzzy Peach
Peach Puff
Peach Sherbert
Nyla Nude
Nude Beige
Slate Grey
Concrete Mixer
Utopia
Snow White
Gold Rush
Sophie's Pink
Lilac Dream

If you need a swatch of any of the ones without a link let me know and I will twitpic you one.

Rani from Cupcake Couture swatched most of her collection on Monday so check it out if you're interested in buff pink, becca brown, grass green, green tea, purple ash, beth's blue, feeling blue, coral reef, red alert, red red wine, hot pink, gun metal grey and in the navy

What colours are you after? I have gone for Gold digger, Raspberry Crush, Purple Passion, Pure Purple, Turkish Delight, Purple Poppy, Purple Rain, 2 nail art pens and a purple Smash Up. Can you tell I am trying to find my perfect shade of purple?!

Wednesday Wants

2011-08-24T08:15:00.002+01:00

Got a few delights for you today, I'm so excited by all the Autumn/Winter stock that's arriving.

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

This dress is made out of crepe so it will hang like a dream. How great will it look with a pair of lovely opaque black tights? Its limited edition so I am guessing it won't be widely available in store. I am keeping my fingers crossed for more colours!

Dress: Missguided

I can't get enough of Missguided at the moment. It's like they have gotten into my head and lifted all the dresses I would really like to own and then made them super cheap, perfection! I love leopard print and I will never, ever apologise for this... I am just waiting for them to realise they need to make their amazing lace dress in a vivid purple and all my dreams will have become reality!

Dress: New Look

Sorry for the dodgy blurry photo, New Look obviously don't like me borrowing their images :( This isn't my usual style but there's something about it. You can't tell from the dodgy photo but it has little tan circles on it that kinda remind me of cheerios. I would most likely pin the neckline a bit higher but that's just me.

This isn't really part of my wishlist as I have already purchased it, tried it on and decided to return it :( The skirt is too a-line and not full enough for my tastes. I ignored my work colleagues comments of fetish parties too!! I adore leather and will not be put off.

Dress: River Island

What have you been lusting after recently?

Dainty Nails

2011-08-18T09:53:00.000+01:00

Seriously how amazing are these?! Even the cute little logo is making me squeeeee! They are all lovingly handpainted by Charlene, one of my fellow WAMKers. Charlene has given me serious nail envy many times and even inspired these beauties. Oh how I miss having nails and painting them daily... oh wait. That's the reason why my nails are in such terrible condition. Or more to the point the peeling off of the polish on a daily basis :( But I don't have to worry about that anymore now I can buy a set of ready painted falsies that will not chip after 5 minutes. Better still they are only £5 a set or £7 if you want a custom design, amazing value for money. Even better, readers of a million dresses can get 10% off until 31st August using the code 10PERCENTOFF.

I really do hope Charlene does these ones soon, my favourite of all her designs:

You can buy them at Dainty Nails so what are you waiting for?! And whilst you're at it make sure you also 'like' her facebook page.

Wednesday Wants

2011-08-17T08:15:00.000+01:00

Hey gang! Hope you're all well? There is only one dress I really, really want this week and it's basically this dress in a different colour way... but it's purple and purple is my absolute favourite colour so I kinda need it. End of story.

Dress: asos

Just gorgeous!

The Perfect Bikini

2011-08-06T11:07:00.000+01:00

We have booked our honeymoon so in the excitement I have already started the hunt for the perfect bikini. I would love to wear something like this...

but I want to feel and look good and unless I can manage to half my body weight this bikini is just way to unforgiving!! BUT the search is over, I have found the perfect bikini that helps to fake the perfect bikini body... and the best thing is it comes in loads of great colours, red, pink and aqua for me please!!

There are even two different types of bikini bottoms, the 'big pants' are fantastic for when you over indulged on the all inclusive food the night before ;) The bikini is called azure and is by Pour Moi and I've picked them up from both asos figleaves. Well worth every penny.

Wednesday Wants

2011-08-03T08:15:00.000+01:00

I've been seriously lacking on the blogging front recently :( My spare room has been taken over with wedding stuff and as a result I no longer have anywhere to take outfit photos without having to rearrange the room first. I am really missing blogging though so hopefully will have time to rectify this soon. I have been busy crafting for the wedding and wish I could share it all with you but don't want to ruin the surprise for friends who are going and read my blog. I can now post a tutorial for my sister's button bouquet and will write that up as soon as I get a spare 5 minutes. Hope you are all well and thank you for sticking with me :)

There is one dress this week that I really, really want. Thing is I already have this dress in several colour ways but this is just perfect!!

Dress: Missguided

Please stop doing this to me Missguided, I've got a wedding to pay for!!

Wednesday Wants

2011-07-27T08:15:00.000+01:00

Just one little gem to share with you this week and I ~~want~~ need it so badly!!

Dress: Topshop

Just beautiful!

My Sisters Wedding

2011-07-26T15:00:00.003+01:00

I'm sure most of you are aware my little sister got married yesterday. We had a great day with lots of sunshine and more importantly lots of cake! haha. They say a picture speaks a thousand words so I will let some of mine do the talking...

I'm gutted I didn't get a good photo of my Mum :( Hopefully a few will surface on facebook soon.

On a side note it's FOUR MONTHS today til I get married... eeeekkkkk!!

***STOP PRESS***

My husband-to-be has actually agreed to me posting a photo of him on my blog... shocker!! Can you believe that we didn't have a single photo taken together yesterday :( Only just realised! He has fiddled around with it to give it that vintage look I adore, perfect.

Wednesday Wants

2011-07-20T08:15:00.001+01:00

This weeks wishlist is a little different as all the dresses are by Missguided, they seriously upped their game and I cannot get enough of their designs! What's even better is their prices, you can bag yourself two of their lovely dresses for the price of one Topshop or River Island piece, great when you're on a budget. All three of these dresses come in a variety of colours but I have picked out my favourites. Think the last dress really, really needs to be mine!

Dress: Missguided

I purchased the asos dress I tweeted about last week but I don't like it in the flesh :( Boooooooo! I had such high hopes. Will take a photo or two before I return it in case any of you guys are interested in it!

Save The Date

2011-07-15T11:21:00.001+01:00

I'm not going to share too many details before the big day but as those friends that read my blog have already received theirs I thought I would show you the save the date magnets we made.

Whilst trawling the internet looking for some inspiration and something that was 'us' we found a fair few contenders but they were either too PDA, not quite right or would be too expensive to recreate:

then I stumbled on this one and just had to try and recreate it:

Tip - Don't try writing on your face using a ball point pen! All you will end up with is a red face :) Liquid eyeliner saved the day and with the help of Gray's sister we got there...

These are now gracing the fridge doors of our friends and family and we had a right giggle making them.

Wednesday Wants

2011-07-13T08:15:00.000+01:00

The shops are starting to get the first drops of Autumn/Winter stock in now which really excites me! I adore A/W, most definitely the best choice of clothes. Not much has really caught my eye yet though but the fact I know it's coming is enough. I can't wait to dig out my comfort blanket of 120 deniers and wrap up in chunky knits. I've never been a summer girl. A few pretty dresses have caught my eye this week and whilst they are perfect for the 'summer' we are apparently having right now they will look ace with black opaque tights and a cozy cardigan:

Dress: asos

I worry about the quality of this dress as I haven't had much joy with the fabric asos seem to love to use, just creases so easily :( Definitely not worth £50 either but I love the colour and the belt. I wore a lot of burgundy/wine last A/W and will do the same this year if I can get my hands on it.

Dress: Topshop

This is the same dress as my favourite orange one in two new gorgeous colours. I have already snapped up the purple one and love the yellow one but it's just not for me. I really wish I could wear yellow but as I tend to team everything with black leggings and a black cardigan I just felt like a big bumble bee! Not the look I was going for tbh... If you can wear yellow I really recommend it. It fits well and is made of that never needs an iron fabric I am so fond of!

Dress: Yumi via Very

How cute is this?! I love the little inserts of lace that turn this dress from an everyday dress to something a bit special. So, so gorgeous.

Bag A Bargain!

2011-07-12T12:47:00.000+01:00

Hey guys! I have been poorly sick for the past week or so with some virus that has left me with zero energy, a very sore throat and feeling like I am underwater all the time. Fun! I can't think of a better form of TLC than a spot of online retail therapy, it's amazing how good a few little dresses can make you :)

I first posted this dress ages ago and have been very good and showed some rare restraint by waiting for it to go into the sales and boy am I glad I did. The dress was originally £42 and I snapped it up for just £13.50! Bargain or what!

Dress: Closet

The dress is now out of stock on the Dorothy Perkins website but don't despair as A-Wear stock Closet and the dress is £15 there now. Not only that they also have this dress in black, orange, pink and a black and white geo print. I may have snapped them all up :) It really is that flattering and easy to wear and being ponti fabric it never needs an iron, perfection!

Dress: Closet via Dotty P or A-Wear

Dress: Closet via A-Wear

Not sure what A-Wear have done to the dress in their photos (the last two) but it is the same dress and just as flattering. As soon as I am well enough I will do a few outfit posts to show you just how amazing this dress is. I LOVE it!!

Witch Anti-Blemish Liquid Concealer Giveaway Winners

2011-06-30T22:09:00.004+01:00

Hello you gorgeous lot! How are we all today? I have 10 winners to announce, hope you're one of them :)

xXxStundonxXx - leannestundon@hotmail.com (light)

ScienceGeek - sciencegeekchic@hotmail.co.uk (light)

kate louise. - ohkatelouise@hotmail.co.uk (light)

Christina Sanders - miss.christina.sanders@gmail.com (light)

Beth - bethanyhunt@live.com (medium)

Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping] - I need your email addy lovely! (light)

Rai - the-raivoloution@hotmail.co.uk (light)

Helen - helen.sheridan@gmail.com (light)

stephanie - stephanieblackphotography@gmail.com (light)

choux pastry hearts - choux_pastry_hearts@hotmail.co.uk (light)

Well done to all those who won, I will forward your emails onto Holly at Witch and they will be in contact to get your address and send your prizes out!

Lakota - please send me your email address asap :)

Don't forget to join in with the Witch #FlawlessFollower tomorrow, my skin is terrible at the moment so nominate me please!!

Wednesday Wants

2011-06-29T12:59:00.000+01:00

Helllllloooooooo!! Long time no speak my lovelies. Hope you are all well and have missed me :) Sorry for going AWOL just have so much stuff going on and I have been far too tired to even consider snapping photos of my tired face. I will rectify this soon, I promise. Hopefully you will all be able to tell that I am now 19lbs lighter since starting Slimming World. Very happy at my progress but I still have far to go to get to my target for when I get married in November. Just promise you'll tell me if I get too carried away and start to look my age ;)

Enough of my waffle, let's get on with the dresses! I have been a really good girl and haven't bought any clothes in two whole weeks! That must be a record for me. It hasn't stopped me compiling a wishlist of the gems I have found in the last week to share with you all.

Dress: Zara

This dress is just the most perfect shade of purple. I am still loving block colours opposed to prints and am missing a vibrant purple in my collection. Purple is my favourite colour but I always worry about looking too gothy in purple but there is no chance of that in this little beauty!

Dress: TFNC via asos

Another block colour dress, I don't own any yellow dresses and this one is just gorgeous. I love the button detail and the fullness of the skirt, in fact I love everything about it!

Dress: Dahlia

I am still loving florals although not choosing to wear them that often. I think this one will look great come winter with some thick black tights and I adore the little collar. Not keen on the price though, Dahlia have really upped their prices recently with this dress coming in at £70!! Will just have to wait for it to go to half price in their sale, they have really good sales and have one on at the moment if you're interested!

My Witch giveaway ends today so don't forget to enter if you haven't yet done so, there are 10 concealers to give away so you stand a good chance of winning one!

Witch Anti-Blemish Liquid Concealer GIVEAWAY! NOW CLOSED

2011-06-23T08:15:00.004+01:00

Hey guys! The lovely people at Witch have given me TEN of their brand new liquid concealers to give away before they hit the shelves in July. Witch say that their new concealer is the ultimate festival must have product. It’ll conceal dark circles from the previous night’s antics, cover up any nasty spots that appear and help prevent any more from popping up!

This mattifying concealer comes in two shades and are suitable for most skin tones. It not only covers spots it helps treat them too! The gentle formula is also suitable for use under eyes so if like me you use two products to cover blemishes and dark circles you can make a bit of space in your make up bag with this multi-tasking concealer. It is also oil free and fragrance free, helps control shine and clarifies skin. I absolutely adore my Witch Primer and my skin has improved massively since I started using it so if this is half as good I am already sold! I can't wait to get my hands on one but unlike the lucky winners I will have wait until they go on sale in Boots at just £6.99.

To enter - you just need to follow A Million Dresses by Google Friend Connect and leave a comment below stating whether you would prefer to win either the light or medium shade along with your email address. The winners will be drawn using Random.org and Witch will then contact the winners to organise sending out the prizes. The giveaway will run for a week and will close on Wednesday 28th June at 6pm. The winners will be posted on A Million Dresses asap once the giveaway has closed.

Good luck guys :)

Please Vote For Me - Missguided Social Style Competition

2011-06-17T08:15:00.000+01:00

Hello my lovelies!

I would really, really appreciate it if you could all vote for me in the Missguided Social Style Competition that's running on their facebook page. You just need to 'like' the photo of me to vote :)

**Direct link to my entry**

It seems the Aldara dress and leopard box bags are popular amongst us bloggers as a few of us have chosen them from the hundreds of possible items!

The Aldara dress is now available in red and with sleeves, amazing!! I have snapped up the cream and red sleeved versions (I've changed my monthly dress allowance to an amount rather than a number of dresses ;) ) and can't wait to wear them and snap some pics to share with you guys, they are so pretty! They come in at just £26.99 which is a total snip when you think that EXACTLY the same dress is selling in Topshop for £48...

A blue version is coming soon, please please make a jewel toned purple one for me Missguided! I will love you forever :)

Wednesday Wants

2011-06-15T08:15:00.001+01:00

I am teasing myself with these wish lists :( I have promised that I will only buy two dresses a month whilst saving for our wedding... ARGH!! Maybe I should set a total limit instead and then when Missguided make loads of lovely dresses I need I will be able to buy more than two! My favourites this week would definitely break the bank...

Leopard Dress: Zara

Cherry Dress: asos

Green Shirt Dress: Warehouse

I've been scouring the internet for wedding dress inspiration so maybe my next wishlist will be wedding themed! I am going to see a dress maker on Saturday to design my dream dress and am very excited! Luckily we found her bridal shop whilst looking for my sister's dress and I know she will be able to interpret what I want and that the end result will be perfect! I cannot wait to see my sister's finished dress at her final fitting in a few weeks. I have almost finished her button bouquet so will share that with you soon and write a tutorial for those that are interested, I've really enjoyed making it.

Missguided - Social Style

2011-06-14T08:15:00.002+01:00

The lovely people at Missguided have set me a challenge! Missguided have recently launched a 'Social Style' section which showcases everything you could possibly need for social events such as Weddings, Garden Parties, Proms, Christenings, Glam nights out, The Races etc etc. I have been tasked with selecting an outfit from this section which I would wear to a social event this summer.

My sister gets married in a few weeks so I decided to build the outfit I would wear if I wasn't already wearing a bridesmaid dress! The dress was really easy to select, I already own it and it is perfect for any occasion. Teamed with these gorgeous wedges and little animal print bag this outfit is perfect for a wedding.

Bag / Dress / Lipgloss / Wedges - all Missguided

The lace makes the dress look far more expensive than it actually is and the wedges are perfect for dancing the night away without killing your feet. I have kept accessories to a minimum to let the dress do the talking and added an animal print bag to add a bit of interest. Add a slick of gloss and then you're photo ready! Best thing about this outfit is you can buy the whole outfit for just over £86, amazing!

My outfit is going to be entered into a competition on the Missguided Facebook page. Once I know the link I will let you guys know and would really appreciate it if you could vote for my outfit!

Here is a little reminder of how I wore the actual dress featured...

I AM GETTING MARRIED!!

2011-06-12T20:10:00.000+01:00

I'm sure most of you who follow me on twitter will already know this but my boyfriend Gray proposed on Thursday! It was a total shock, I had no idea he had been planning it and had been to design and buy a ring and everything. How scheming ;) Anyway I've been asked about the proposal a fair few times so I thought I would document it here as it's much easier than trying to explain it by text, or 140 characters.

I had been to fat club (aka Slimming World) for my weekly weigh in when he sprung into action. He knew I would be gone for an hour and a half and that there was no chance of me coming back early and catching him mid set up. I pulled up outside our home and noticed that the hall light had been left on which is really unlike Gray. I unlocked the door and shouted hello and turned to see the following signs...

I pressed the correct button and a little video set to The Wannadies you and me song started playing and I read the following:

There were lots of photos of me at this point!

Lots of photos of Gray at this point....

A few photos of us at this point and I hate them all!!

I was in floods of tears by this stage!! Obviously I knew he was hiding in the bedroom which he had decorated with fairy lights and candles.

Apparently he was on one knee but it was such a blur I can't really remember! I had to ask if he had actually popped the question as it all happened that quickly.

I can't believe he managed to choose this ring all by himself, it's totally perfect for me!

We have spent this weekend deciding on potential dates/venues/guest lists and have our fingers crossed for the most perfect venue which we viewed earlier today.

I AM SO EXCITED!!

Snap Happy!

2011-06-10T08:15:00.001+01:00

The moment I saw this little beauty I knew it HAD to be mine! I had searched high and low for a pretty camera bag to no avail so settled on a smallish black bag with a yucky strap. It was my best option until River Island delivered the goods with this, beautiful and functional!

Camera Bag: River Island

Lots of pockets and plenty of room for my camera I am hoping this means I will take my camera out with me more often... and maybe even learn to use it without relying on auto!

And if you need something a bit bigger to fit in all those lenses River Island haven't forgotten about you at all, there are two other larger options:

Now if only they would start making bags that didn't have that little River Island emblem on I would love them forever! I guess I should be grateful that it's more discreet than it used to be :)

My New Favourite Shoes

2011-06-09T08:15:00.001+01:00

I have a fair few pairs of Converse but I never wear them anymore, the laces just annoy me so when I came across these Office exclusives I knew they had to be mine, perfection!

Converse: Office

I love that they are low cut and more girly than regular Converse and they are oh so comfy. Only gripe is that I would love a red pair too but they only come in black, white and navy. Welcome back to my wardrobe Converse, I've missed you :)

Wednesday Wants

2011-06-08T08:15:00.001+01:00

Not much has taken my fancy in the last week to be honest BUT I have still found a couple of gems that I wouldn't mind owning...

Dress: Peter Jensen

Dress: Closet

Dress: TBA

There really isn't many dresses taking my fancy at the moment, makes it easy for me to restrain from buying til I have achieved my WhereAreMyKnees? Pledge!

Going Bananas!

2011-06-07T08:15:00.001+01:00

Am I the only one who cannot say banana without putting on a silly accent and adding an S?!

I really, really, really want this Topshop Banana dress:

But as Char and I found out last week we are never going to be able to get our hands on it :( Topshop are not actually making this dress, they just used it for their promo pictures. Doesn't that suck?!

I already have this amazing vintage banana brooch that has been completing many an outfit recently but I want more bananas! My favourite picks are:

Bikini - Topshop

Necklace: Tatty Devine

Hair Clip: asos

Vest: Topshop

Have you spotted any banana print dresses anywhere? I've hunted high and low but to no avail. Just need a beach holiday and a beach body for that bikini now too...

A Little Bit of Wales

2011-06-06T20:31:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely relaxing time in Wales apart from walking about 35 miles that is... although to be honest I really enjoyed that! We spent loads of time wondering around not doing much and eating Slimming World friendly food, perfection. Shame we didn't get good weather but at least it was dry if not a bit windy. No photos of me due to the wind, I had a hat firmly plonked on my head most of the time!

I'm hoping for a sunshine holiday this year still so keep your fingers crossed for me. I want to feel comfortable in a bikini first so it won't be til the end of the summer at the earliest. Make me jealous and tell me where you're off on holiday this year. Any recommendations or photo posts to make me day dream? Please share!

Happy Holidays

2011-05-28T10:00:00.002+01:00

weheartit

Have a great bank holiday my lovelies and I will be back online in a week

I will be around on twitter still depending on reception :)

Cream Delight

2011-05-27T08:15:00.002+01:00

I have been dreaming of this day for weeks now... I am on holiday!! YAY. It couldn't come soon enough and I cannot wait for a week of walking, relaxing, eating and generally doing anything other than work. Bliss. I am also really happy as I have just managed to order the Missguided dress in blush, at only £24 it would be rude not to buy the full set! I can't wait to see what the sleeved version looks like. The cream one again is the same fabric as the Topshop version and is thankfully a couple of inches longer. Only downside is that the lining is thinner so you can tell I am wearing a black bra under it whereas I can totally get away with it under the Topshop dress.

Dress: Missguided

For those of you wondering what the length is like in comparison to the Topshop dress I have popped the Topshop one over the Missguided one:

It's approx 2-3 inches longer and really does make a difference. I just wish the Topshop ones were this length, especially the blue one which is definitely my favourite.

Clash, Bang, Wallop!!

2011-05-26T08:15:00.008+01:00

I had a bit of palaver getting this dress as I'm sure those of you who follow me on twitter will have seen but I am over that now as I love this dress! I love the clash of the red and pink panels and the shape is just perfect :) So glad it's finally mine!

Dress: asos

I'm so happy that today is my last day at work for just over a week, Wales here we come!

Wednesday Wants

2011-05-25T08:15:00.002+01:00

How are your weeks going? I can't believe it's only Wednesday, that's how bad mine has been so far!! But off on holiday on Friday so that's keeping me going :)

A few gems to share with you this week...

Dress: River Island

Love the colours and the stripes but not sure about the length, really want to find this instore so I can try it on but I never seem to be able to find the good stuff in any of the stores near me. Where do they hide it all?! I've got a thing about orange at the moment. I love how it works with tan and maybe if I had one an actual tan too! Need to get myself a nice orange nail polish I think.

Dress: asos

Very pretty dress in a gorgeous colour but awful, awful photo asos! How did this one slip thru quality control?! I've loved this dress since it was first available last autumn and I think this colour makes it perfect for summer. Only concern is the fabric, I've not had much luck with their dresses unless they are either ponti or lace. They crease so badly so that's the only thing putting me off ordering what is otherwise a beautiful dress. I say only thing obviously the crap service I have received from asos also puts me off but I am trying to ignore that whilst looking admiring the dress...

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

I've seen this dress on little photos around my local Outfit recently and have been trying to track down the dress, it's a bargain price and I love the candy rock colours and stripes. Out of my three wishlist dresses this is definitely the one I must own!

The Missguided dress I blogged about on Sunday/Monday is back in stock in the cream in all sizes if you were wanting to order it. I've already ordered mine to replace the Topshop one that I swear has shrunk in the wash. It really wasn't quite that short when I first got it!!

Point me to what you're currently coveting my lovelies :)

It's In The Bag!

2011-05-24T08:15:00.001+01:00

Thought I would give you a heads up on another little Primark treasure, their bags are spot on this season! It's the perfect shade of pink and I am hoping it will compliment my new asos dress...

I think this little lovely will get a lot of use this summer (if we get one!!) It's not big enough to fit my iPad into but I guess I shouldn't really take it everywhere with me anyway!