Sunday 7 – The Summer White Top Edit

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Hello!

How are you all?

Last week I complained that it had been a really long week.

Today I’m going to complain about how quickly the week flew by, as it always does in the approach to school holidays: I always put myself under so much pressure to get stuff done, mainly so I can be around to spend time with the boys rather than be knee deep in domesticity.

I didn’t manage it of course!

And all the boys really want to do is play football, minecraft or fortnite.

None of which I do!

*rolleyes*

This year, as summer approaches, I’m determined to fill my ‘white top’ gap in my wardrobe.

I only have a couple of plain white tees, and my ancient working days white shirt was so tatty, I recently took it, along side some shamefully tatty, ‘older than I care to admit’ t-shirts to a recycle bank: none were even charity shop worthy!

White tee’s, peasant-boho tops, shirts… are a summer staple, and I need some.

I’m also returning to part time office work, so am very much in need of a mixture of styles – here are the ones I have my eye on:

7. H&M – Balloon Sleeve Blouse (£29.99)

How about this classic white shirt, with a twist: a summery twist at that!

I’m really taken with the slim-fit tailoring of this shirt and the shoulder puffs:

And although I love the looser, wide sleeve opening, and 3/4 sleeve length…

Of course the sleeves would be full length on my I suspect.

And as much as I hate to admit defeat, I’m pretty sure the balloon sleeves would do *nothing* for my extra petite frame.

As per last week’s Sunday 7: me and oversized blazers don’t work.

Anyway, I won’t know til I try… and it might be worth shortening the sleeves to just the elbow: what do you think?

#notallwhiteshirtsaremadeequal

7. New Look – White Cotton Boxy T-shirt (£6.99)

Nothing ground breaking here, but I like the shorter length for Petites and the boxy cut, which would lend itself well to the good old half tuck, with both jeans, shorts and skirts.

The T-shirt is made from 100% cotton, and given it’s price tag, it’s definitely not organic or sustainably produced.

However, I don’t like to keep a huge stock of plain tee’s in my wardrobe, it means I wear them to death: first, as my ‘nice’ tee’s… then when they are tatty from over wear, over washing (this usually takes a couple of years…) the t-shirt is relegated to ‘under jumpers’ in winter only… or dog walking scruffs as I call them.

And once the tee becomes super manky: sweat stains, food/grease stains… I will then wear the t-shirt for cleaning/decorating.

Finally, when the tee has nothing left in it all… I will recycle it.

Just because a t-shirt doesn’t cost much, doesn’t make it immediately disposable after a couple of wears.

Or is that just me?

5. Other Stories – Frilled Sleeveless Top (£49)

My insta-pal and fellow blogger Susie So So is the Queen of Pretty White Boho Tops.

She doesn’t discriminate and sniffs out *the* prettiest white tops whether in Primark, Tesco, Madewell, Isabelle Marant…

And she happens to look great in them.

Me?

Not so much.

Perhaps it’s my super narrow shoulders… but most of the time, the looser cut, empire line seam… well, these tops look shit on me.

It’s always frustrating – when you love the look of something, but it simply doesn’t work on you.

Instead, this Other Stories Frilled Sleeveless Top is about as close as I get to *that* kind of pretty top: it has a slimmer fit, and whilst I don’t like overly frilly tops, the little frill on this one, which ends at the shoulder, almost creating a little cap sleeve *would* work on me.

It’s lovely, don’t you think?

4. Stradivarius – Lace Trimmed Shirt (£19.99)

This is the exact shape of top I can’t wear… and yet I’m forever drooling over.

It’s no where near as pretty as the one SusieSoSo finds.

Again, it’s such a pretty top, would look so good under dungarees or with shorts… I’d probably roll the sleeves up a bit if wearing with jeans or shorts.

Though of course I *won’t* be wearing it, will I?

It won’t suit me!

{Insert 1000x rolleye emoji’s here please.}

3. Boden – Fiona Embroidered Top (£65)

The simple t-shirt cut of this top, and that it’s not TOO heavy on embroidery appeals.

A lot.

However, I’m very much aware that I wouldn’t get enough wear out of it because my day-to-day reality is… I don’t wear much embroidery/florals.

I just like looking at them on others.

2. Other Stories – Open Crochet Knit Top (£45)

I do like me a little, knitted tee.

I am basically a lizard… always cold.

And I know what you’re thinking: won’t this open-holey-crochet top be a bit a draughty?

Potentially, yes…but I’d wear this with a little singlet/cami underneath rather than going for the visible bra look.

I know this is quite a boring little top really, but I happen to think it would be very useful.

I’d wear it with jeans & strappy sandals and a gold pendant.

Or, with a pleated midi.

1. Zara – Blouse with Peter Pan Collar (£29.99)

So… I’d spotted this top a while back but assumed that the giant collars would be a bit too much on my small frame… though I’d added to my basket so I could ‘sleep’ on it.

However, after seeing it on a handful of people on Instagram, and checking in with them about the sizing, I thought I’d give it a go.

Alas, by the time I’d found out the top is quite narrow cut across the shoulders – my basket had been emptied and my size was out of stock.

And every time I received a ‘back in stock alert’ – it would be back out of stock.

Which meant I became ever so slightly obsessed with ‘having to have it’.

Yesterday I got lucky as I checked my emails and there was another alert, only a few minutes old rather than a few hours, and I managed to place my order.

There’s not much sizing availability showing up right now, but sizes keep coming in and out of stock, so do keep checking /signing up for alerts if you’re after one.

Alternatively, if you have a store nearby, I can only imagine there will be plenty of stock…

Stinkers of the Week:

And yes, that *is* stinkers, in the plural.

All 3 of these are from Zara, starting L-R:

• Draped Poplin Top (£19.99)
• Poplin Top (£19.99)
• Shirt with Contrasting Cutwork Embroidery (£25.99)

All three tops are lovely, aren’t they?

So why are they ‘stinkers?’

It’s the length of the body of the top.

As an extra short shortie, I will admit that I probably could get away with all 3 tops, as long as I wore high-waisted bottoms.

But even then, I’d prefer at *least* one extra inch on the length, so I’m guessing anyone taller than me would feel the same.

It’s such a shame that so many pretty summer white tops appear to be cropped in length.

I recently bought this (now sold out) ‘milkmaid top’ from New Look:

And unless I wear it with super high, high-waisters… it is frankly, too short.

Super pretty, but too short IMO.

{If this New Look top *wasn’t* sold out, I planned to make it my stinker for being too cropped for most people!}

So enough with the cropped tops!

I get that there will be a certain demographic who *wants* to wear these cropped tops… but with *SO MANY* pretty style tops being cropped… it feels like there’s a larger part of the demographic who will have to miss out on these tops.

Or is that just me?!

Wildcard of the Week: Madewell Drapey Oversized Boyfriend Shirt (£72)

Now I know you can get much, much cheaper white shirts… but Madewell, being an American brand… is pretty darn good with it’s tiny sizing.

Plus, from the one review of the shirt on the John Lewis site, it sounds like the shirt is more an off-white, which I rather like the sound of.

Anyway… what exactly is so ‘wild’ about a plain white shirt?

Well… not much really.

You got me!

But, as I don’t have one… I just fancied styling one up…

Look 1 – Khaki Cool:

For this look, you’ll be wearing your shirt unbuttoned, half way down, over a Topshop Lace Trim Cami (£10) and of course, a casual, nonchalant half-tuck is like… the law.

I’m liking these pleat front Topshop Casual Mensy Trousers (£36) as an alternative to the usual style of Kkaki’s around, and definitely have a couple of roughly rolled-up turn-ups at the bottom of the leg.

These Topshop Buttermilk Venus Sandals* (£46) with their low heel, would look beautiful with this outfit and finish off with a cute little Topshop Swish Bag (£25) tying the colour in with your cami.

I haven’t put a jacket in the mix, but I’d go for either a black blazer or a denim jacket.

{*I ordered the Topshop Venus Sandals, and can confirm that they’re not too high, easy to walk in because they are very light-weight; however, I’m not sure the buttermilk colour worked on me, and I’m far too lazy to be body-blurring all the time. Gutted!}

Look 2 – Summer Barbecue:

White goes with pretty much any colour, so what ever colour your dress happens to be, you can wear this look… it just so happens I’ve chosen a khaki coloured dress again.

I guess I have Khaki on my mind?!

Anyway, wear your shirt sleeves roughly rolled up, again keep the shirt unbuttoned most of the way and knot it at the front over your M&S Cotton Floral Midi (£39.50)

You’ll probably be on your feet, mingling a lot at the barbie, so these flat M&S Cross Strap Sandals in Tan (£25) would be perfect.

And because it *will* be sunny, this M&S Contrast Trim Hat (£17.50) will definitely be required!

Finally, straw bags are a must in the summer, right? I’m liking this cute M&S Cross Body Straw Bag (£19.50) which is a smaller size and has a handy long strap as well as little handles.

 Look 3 – Summer Office Style:

My work style was never overly smart, and as far as the stuffier offices I worked in… I’d always push the boundaries by adding a smidgen of casual into the mix.

Which… I think is pretty normal nowadays… isn’t it?

{I hope it is!}

I’d wear my shirt buttoned to the top and tucked into some black wide leg crops, like these Warehouse Cropped Pleat Front Trousers (£40)  and opt for very plain white, in-offensive sneaks like these French Connection Lars Lace Up Trainers (£85)

And whilst you may not need a jacket whilst you’re at work, nor, perhaps on your way home, you might need one when you leave the house, early (chilly) doors?

This longer line Topshop Oversized Denim Jacket (£46) gets my vote.

And finally, I don’t know about you, but I often use to carry a canvas tote with me to work, with extra bits and bobs (like an umbrella, or a packed lunch etc) – the bag also comes in handy for chucking your denim jacket in as well.

But in terms of actual bag for the day, a cute little Fonott Lou Pouch* (€69.95) with it’s black and white gingham print, would be just the ticket

{* You can use my discount code of BEAN15 to get 15% off any full price pouch bags from Fonott.}

And so that’s it from me this week: what do you think?

Apologies for publishing this a day late… I had a bit of a crazy Instagram Friday & Saturday after posting a Gucci Inspired pic for which the likes and comments went nuts, followed by a HUGE amount of support to push my 9950 follower count over the 10k marker.

Which happened.

Which is pretty darn cool… to finally have made this milestone.

It won’t change my life in any way, but it’s nice to have gotten there… finally!

And I can’t thank my lovely insta friends and followers enough for all the excitement, support and hilarious direct message exchanges on Saturday: you guys rock!

Anyway… the crazy amount of time I spent on Instagram on Friday & Saturday meant I killed the nerve endings in my finger and just didn’t have it in me yesterday to publish this, or post on Instagram… apologies but as they say: better late than never, right?!

As always, thanks for reading.

Bx