Vintage style with a Hell Bunny dress from Tiger Milly

 Hello everyone!

Today I want to tell you about a gorgeous dress I was sent c/o Tiger Milly, an online shop that specialises in vintage style and rockabilly clothing.

In particular, they have a lot of Hell Bunny dresses. Now Hell Bunny are a brand I have come across before and worn on a few occasions so I was very excited to work with Tiger Milly to style up a dress of my choice *lucky*.

After a lot of deliberation I decided to go with the Francine dress in green. Now I know that red and green should 'never been seen' but I truly believe this dress is the exception to that rule, there is something about the colour combination on this dress that is just so visually striking. AND it reminded me of Snow White - what's not to love.

I should mention that while I was on my jaunt about town, I received no less that FOUR compliments on my outfit from complete strangers. I am definitely not used to that and I attempted to be gracious, but I think I probably just came across as a bit embarrassed. None-the-less it was a rather lovely way to debut a new dress!

When I left the house I was also wearing a red cardigan but that was quickly removed as the sun came out. I continued the red and green them with red sunglasses, my vintage moonglow necklace and some red ballet pumps.

The dress itself was actually a much lighter colour than I expected, somehow really floaty and light which was absolutely perfect for a warm summer day. 

Then there was the skirt. This dress well and truly passed the swish test with loads of fabric to give a great twirl.

Since it was hot I sort of piled all of my hair on top of my head in a sort of rolley way. I'm so sick of my semi-grown-out-fringe now, I feel like it's limiting my choice of styles at this point. But oh well, I suppose if you can't do the time, don't do the crime (never let me get a fringe again!).

 

Dress: Hell Bunny c/o Tiger Milly

Beads: Vintage via charity shop

Shoes: M&S

Cardigan: M&S via charity shop

What do you think to red and green?

Outfit of the Day: Spring in my step with a Cath Kidston dress

Is that spring I sense in the air? I hope so, I'm starting to get a little bit sick of winter tights.

Anywho, with a bit of nice weather my husband and I decided to go for a stroll about town while the gettin' was good.

For said stroll I decided to wear a lovely Cath Kidston tea dress I got from eBay a couple of weeks ago. I've never seen this style of dress before in CK and it was a bit more up my street than the usual tunic style peter pan collar dresses that are really popular.

Of course I bought it second hand for less than half the RRP.

It was super nice to be able to go out without a coat on too! The shoes were from Clarks last year and have lasted surprisingly well for ballet pumps. I was quite impressed. They have a little more cushioning than usual so they don't make me feet ache as much as the cheap ones tend to.

Look at this picture, there are actual SUN RAYS caught on film!

Last but not least is a make up close up (check out part of my fringe with a mind of its own in the wind!). I have been using MAC make up for a while now so managed to save up 6 empty things and I finally tried taking them into the shop to exchange for my free lipstick.

I chose the shade Dangerous as its a bit more of an orange tone than my usual Ruby Woo and I thought it would be nice for spring. It isn't quite as matt as Ruby, but it is pretty matt and it is by far the best orangey red I've ever tried.

What do you think?

Dress: Cath Kidston, via eBay

Shoes: Clarks

Pearls: Thrifted

Sunglasses: North Laines Brighton

 Can you feel spring in the air?

My first wrap dress... for a very long time

Wow what a heatwave we seem to be having!

I hope you are all enjoying the warm weather and I hope it continues for a little while longer at least. It can make up for all that rain last year around this time.

Anywho, I went down south for a training day at my new job and I stopped off briefly at Brighton to catch up with a few friends. During the visit I decided to wear a wrap dress, which was possibly not the greatest choice as Brighton tends to be notoriously windy, especially by the beach.

The dress itself was bought from a charity shop and is probably from the 1980s based on the bright colours and styling. It is the first wrap dress I have bought in a very long time as I tend to find them a bit difficult to wear, they don't usually fit right around the bust and the waist, but I made an exception for this one as it seemed to hang quite well. It has a 50s style collar and is sleeveless so it is perfect for summer.

I decided to team it with a red cardigan and ballet pumps - both from M&S.

Oh yes, and that is the lovely Brighton Pavilion behind me!

...and finally

I also got a leopard print box-pleated midi skirt from a charity shop. The skirt wasn't so great but I liked the fabric and there was tonnes of it so I decided to cut it up and make it into a dress. I havent has a lot of time for sewing lately, but I did take a picture of the cut out pieces so that you could see the fabric. I'll post the finished thing eventually when I get it done.

Until then

Fabulous Folly in Forbidden Corner

My husband and I went on a little day trip to the Forbidden Corner in the Yorkshire Dales. It is a garden folly set against the beautiful backdrop of the countryside near Middleham. There is a lot to explore, with classical statues and fountains, lovely gardens, strange underground lairs, hedge mazes and a lot of areas to get completely lost in.

You can find more out about Forbidden Corner here.

So for a day exploring I chose my comfy standard casuals with my Vivien of Holloway jeans, Wonder Woman Converse and since I was going with the slightly rockabilly look, a classic red and white stripe tee.

Upon entering the labryrinth we were given a non-linear map filled with picture clues to guide us on our journey. We were also given a sheet with blank circles so we could do brass rubbings of secret panels hidden throughout the park. By ticking everything off the map and getting all the brass rubbings, you could be (almost) sure that you had seen everything.

We snuck through the entrance door straight into the mouth of a belching castle - charming! But beyond this there were so many other things to see:

A beautiful herb garden with a dancing frog fountain and secret doors:

Some bears playing poker, many of them cheating, badly:

Woodland walks:

Classical architecture, underground secrets and passages and stepping stones with a super soggy surprise:

There were a lot of statues and carvings, and while you may be tempted to think that this place is probably for kids, there is a distinct undertone of adult humour to the whole place... naughty!

 Oh yeah, there were also a lot of ducks and ducklings in the picnic area - so cute!!!