Sunday 7 – Summer is Coming

Hello!

Hope you’ve had a lovely week – with all this glorious summer like sunshine?

I *think* here in Salisbury, we had two and a half days of it, and already, the memories of that icy blast in March feels almost unreal, as though it was a very bad dream.

(I know, it was more than that – it was a frickin’ nightmare!)

Anyway, a couple of days of sunshine, and I’m all over high summer stuff.

Even though the forecast for the coming week is decidedly average British Spring at best…

I’m going on holiday in a few weeks, and though I don’t really *need* to buy anything for that week away, I haven’t been able to stop myself swooning over proper-proper summer gear.

So here’s a somewhat predictable, summer inspired Sunday 7:

7. Miss Selfridge – Ochre Cargo Pocket Denim Skirt (£32)

Let me start by apologising to any of my taller readers… unless of course you’re happy to wear butt-skimming skirts in which case I don’t need to apologise… but yes, this one is for us shorties.

According to the info on the Miss Selfridge website, the model is 5’9″.

Which of course means, that this very skirt would be a more respectable ‘on the knee’ length on titchy 5′ 0″ little me.

#winning

It reminds me of the yellow pleather wildcard skirt from the other week, though I prefer this one because it’s denim.

It’s very bright… I think it would look lovely with some flat sandals, or canvas sneaks and a little tee.

Definitely tempted.

6. ASOS – Selected Stripe Shirt Dress (£30)

I love the simplicity of this dress.

Yes, it’s kinda boring… a bit bland even.

But how cool would it look with some red converse high tops?

Or leave a couple of buttons open, wear with some white slides?

I like it.

Though I have a funny old relationship with pale blue and currently, we’re not hanging out together much.

5. ASOS – ASOS Design Stripe Midi Tiered Sundress (£30)

Staying with ASOS – this is such a lovely style of summer dress.

Perfect for holidays.

It has stripes (vertical and horizontal); straps wide enough to cover bra straps; it has tiers and is an *almost* buffet dress** plus the green tier really freshens the blue stripe up and lifts the whole dress from boring to beachside.

{**buffet dress was a term coined by Susie So So for dresses you can comfortably wear all day long in an ‘all you can eat buffet’ kind of way without getting a post lunch bulge!}

This dress is available in sizes 4 – 18, which to me says, size down.

You can see from the cut of the dress, that it’s on the generous side:

I can’t be certain of that ‘size down’ statement given I haven’t tried the dress… but what I have experienced with ASOS, is that if an item goes down to a size 4 then my usual size 6 seems to come up big.

And of course the length!

This dress would be sweeping the floor as I walked around… however, the style of the dress does lend itself to a ‘midaxi’ so I would say, if you are 5’2″ or more, then you’d be fine.

4. New Look – Yellow Polka Dot Dress (£19.99)

A really cute dress for summer, in what has got to be the ‘print’ of the year, and in sunshine yellow too: what’s not to love?

And it’s pretty bargainous too… and it’s not polyester!!

It’s viscose which is a bit better, right?

Again, for reference, the model is 5’7″ so this dress would most likely cover the knees for us shorties… never a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.

3. Zara – Lace Effect Sweater (£17.99)

OK, you got me… this isn’t exactly ‘high’ high summer now, is it: a sweater?!

But… it’s got lots of holes in it (!) and for most of the summer, I usually like to carry a knit or sweatshirt of some description with me in a ‘you never know (with our weather)’ kind of way.

This cute ‘lace effect’ sweater would be an easy one to shove in your straw bag, or have it tied around your waist or do that over the shoulder thing with it (which I can never do!)

It’s also available in Black.

2. Mango – Handmade Bamboo Coffer Bag (£49 – not available yet, but coming soon apparently! Sign up for notifications)

Straw / woven / bamboo / wicker bags are a dime a dozen at the moment: we can’t seem to get enough of them, can we?

There are zillions around, some cheaper, some not, and most of the designs are kind of ‘rip-offs’ in one way or another.

But for me, Mango have got ‘it’ going-no with their bags this season!

I really want one!

I’m not really one for buying much ‘new’ stuff, specifically for holidays or high summer… simply because we don’t get enough cost-per-wear value out of summer stuff.

But I reckon this bag would be one I’d happily dig out year after year…

1. Other Stories – Relaxed Fit Retro Shirt (£45 – use code TAKE25 for a 25% discount on one item until April 24th)

And back to yellow again.

But a softer, pastel, lemony yellow.

Having previously stated on my blog that I’m trying to steer away from using Other Stories items because often even their smallest sizes are akin to a size 10 and no good for teeny-tinies like me, I can never help myself from looking at their new in stuff.

It’s usually all lovely – for the most part.

And I’m very taken with this cute little shirt!

I like the loose, boxy shape and it’s shorter length.

With a 25% discount on one item available, that would bring this shirt down to £33.75…

It’s also available in White.

And moving on to… drumroll please…

Stinker of the Week: New Look Pale Pink Ruched Maxi Dress (£24.99)

This dress is basically everything that isn’t me… or that I’m not… if that makes sense.

Just recently I’ve been feeling a bit mean about doing a Stinker of the Week, because there’s always going to be someone out there who *will* like the piece.

And so it seems a little unfair to slate something just because it isn’t my cuppa.

But then I remembered that that was the whole point of Stinker of the Week… it’s not about being mean, and slating the item per se…

Rather… it very much *is* meant to be an item that isn’t my style, isn’t my vibe and so… here it is.

A pale pink ruched maxi with a long front split… I would never have occasion for such a dress.

Soz.

{As an aside: what do you think… should I drop this element of my Sunday 7’s… drop the Stinker of the Week?}

Wildcard of the Week: Other Stories – High Waisted Twill Trousers (£59)

So… what’s so wild about these?

I would wear them, so they’re not ‘wildly’ outside my comfort zone… but I know a lot of women still aren’t 100% about the ‘pyjama bottoms’ look of striped trousers, and others who aren’t comfortable with the this cropped length.

And whilst others may say this sort of trouser is for Autumn, or Spring only… I love crops all year round.

I guess this week, my challenge is: can I persuade those who aren’t sure are striped trews/crops into buying a pair?

Look 1 – Spring City Break:

Currently hankering after a kid-free city break – here in the UK would be fine to be honest, doesn’t have to be abroad.  I’d wear these Striped crops for a mooch, and keep it simple with a plain blue HM Slub Jersey Tee (£8.99) and whilst ordinarily I’d go for trainers… on a kid free break, where no doubt there would be a fair amount of stopping off for coffees, lunching, prosecco and what not, I’d go for some red clogs, like these Swedish Hasbeens Mirja Sandals (currently reduced to £91 in HOF) and the red in to this cute Jigsaw Wren Crossbody Bag (£98).

And because I love a bit of matchy-matchy, I’d definitely be wearing a pair of these UO Extreme Cat Eye Sunnies (£14.99… and which I want, even though I already have a red pair!) and of course you’d need a Denim Jacket (Zara £25.99) because… well, you know, unpredictable British Spring time and all.

Look 2 – Beach Walking:

Yellow always works well with a stripe. So I’d layer this HM Hoodie (£19.99) over a simple tee which would work with the striped trousers if you had to take the hoodie off (because it was actually *sooooo* warm!).  This New Look Bonjour Rainbow Tee (£9.99) is pretty cute.  Finish the look off with some classic white Converse Hi Tops (£55) and keep your hands free with (another beauty of a) Cos Leather Belt Bag (£55).

Look 3 – Early Supper & Pub Night:

Remember those days? When you could pop out for a cheap-eat-dinner and then hang out at the pub till last orders?

{Sorry – can you tell those 2.5 rainy as hell weeks over the Easter hols broke me?!}

Anyway, how to dress these trouser up for more of an evening look, though not overly dressy?

Starting with the shoes up this time! Love these Hobbs Lea Espadrille Wedge Sandals (in Navy £99) and I’d go for the Yellow Other Stories Relaxed Fit Shirt (£45 but use TAKE25 for a 25% discount on one item until April 24).  I’d throw a simple blazer-style jacket over the top.  Something like this cute New Look White Cropped Lightweight Blazer (reduced to £20.99) would look cute.

And of course, that Mango Handmade Bamboo Bag (£49) – when it eventually comes into stock.

And that’s your lot for this week!

I’ve had a lovely Sunday meeting up with some Insta buddies, old and new… we met up in my hometown of Bristol as it was (sort-of) a central point to meet-up for most of us.

And rather than suffering Sunday trains, the boys drove me down and got to visit Bristol Zoo which is a really lovely little zoo.

Once I met up with the boys for a mooch around the harbour and waterfront, the fuzziness of the cocktails faded fast as my pockets got filled with their trinkets and wrappers and I went straight from lovely grown up fashion chat to “mama mama mama!”.

Mum-life, eh?

All about the balance I guess.

Thanks for reading – would love to hear your thoughts?

Bx