Shoeper Challenge: Polka dots x 2

I have a problem. I’m addicted to polka dots. I have at least half a dozen dotty dresses, not to mention shoes, tops, tights and sunglasses covered in spots. There’s something very fresh and fun about polka dots, which I like as someone who is known to dress quite ‘young’ as a rule! But they also work for just about any occasion, as I think these two outfits show (I use the term ‘outfit’ loosely, as the second is basically a dress and shoes). The first outfit was for fellow Domestic Slut Gail‘s gorgeous wedding, so required some serious accessorising. The second outfit was for work on a very, very windy and depressing day that called for a less-than-glamorous hairdo!

In My Wardrobe – Snakeskin and Shoe Saves

Only days after I’d joked to my fellow animal print advocate Sian than we’d have to ditch all our favourite frocks now that ‘snakeskin is the new leopard print’ (so say the glossies) I was given this snakeskin scarf as a leaving present at work. I took no time in giving my new accessory its first outing, at Gary‘s birthday drinks in Barnes. I have fond memories of Barnes as it’s the first place I lived when I moved to London (the dodgy bit by the station that’s actually Roehampton, not the scarily posh village bit). Anyway, back to the scarf, which I teamed with a black tee, my much-loved River Island boyfriend blazer, and super-skinny jeans from Primarni. Tres, tres boring I’m afraid…

Under 100! A Shoeper Challenge Update

I got slightly frightened when I saw on Shoeperwoman that we’re already on week 29 of the Shoeper Challenge! That means there are only another 23 weeks to work my way through my shoe collection, wear the shoes I’ve yet to ‘save’ and get photographs as proof. Going through the pictures, I’m slightly worried about the number of shoes I have actually worn, but not photographed (especially flats) so I need to get onto that and make sure the Summer shoes I still want to save get snapped asap. It’s gonna be tough! So while I update you with another shoe save, I thought I’d also show you the shoes I’ve dumped, the ones I’ve saved and the ones I still have to wear…

Ask Gemma: How do I dress my post-pregnancy curves?

I don’t usually do request posts (mostly because I don’t get any good requests!) but I’m always happy to help a friend in need. So when Katie called on me for help dressing her post-pregnancy bod, I got straight on the case. I’m sure she’s not the only woman who’s strugged to dress as her body has changed following pregnancy, and as I’m hitting the age now where lots of my friends are starting families, so I get the feeling this post might be useful to a fair few other people in times to come. Katie said “I used to be slim with modest boobs. Then I had a baby. Now I am slimmish, but with a flabbier stomach that pops out after I’ve even looked at some food, and a pair of magically enhanced breasts, a couple of sizes bigger. Nothing fits me any more and I don’t understand how or where to shop!” Now, I like to think I know a little bit about dressing for a body with ample boobs and a tum (baby or not) so, without further ado…

Top Ten: Beauty Booty (the things I love right now)

My day job at Latest in Beauty means that I’m constantly reading about, looking at and testing new beauty products. And I really do believe the LiB mantra that it’s so easy to be overwhelmed by the choice on offer. In the last month alone I’ve been introduced to three premium haircare brands, all of them lovely, and the beautiful high end moisturisers I get to test out have made me a bit of a skincare snob, every month or so finding a new ‘miracle’ product that sucks me in! But I also know a lot of it is just clever marketing and a few extra ingredients, and while I love the pricey stuff, I also loving hunting down a cheaper ‘dupe’. As a result, when it comes to my own beauty regime I have quite a mixture of favourites, from £8.50 fragrances to £125 serums. And while I have few old faithfuls, I often change around and use new things as inventive new products are launched. So here are my top ten finds of late (with a couple of very old faves thrown in for good measure). I’ve tried to keep these on the cheaper side, so now £100 products here. The priciest is a £35 cleanser that’ll last you months and months…

Tried & Tested: The Pepperberry Summer Clothing Challenge

Yep, I’ve been back to Pepperberry, purveyors of clothes for ladies with boobs. This time I was invited to take part in their Bloggers’ Summer Clothing Challenge. Basically, I got to choose an event and Pepperberry would dress me for it! I was sent down to the Oxford Circus store in June, where a set of frocks had been picked out for me to try on. I then picked my favourite and styled it up for the event in question. I chose a picnic with friends for my birthday, though I ended up swapping that for an afternoon in the pub (I didn’t trust the weather). I had planned to wear the dress on the day, but it ended up being a bit too restrictive. The moral of the story? Don’t pick a super-fitted dress with a synthetic lining, then put on 5lbs and expect it to still fit on one of the hottest days of the year…

Birthday Frocks & More Shoe Saves

I’ve promised myself many times I won’t become one of those fashion bloggers who updates more often with pictures of food than pictures of clothes, but as most of my birthday seemed to centre around various culinary treats, I couldn’t resist one tiny little foray into foodie photos (along with a few outfit pics, of course). I turned 28 on August 4th, and managed to book off the Thursday and Friday to be able to celebrate properly. There’s nothing worse than working on your birthday (even if you do have lovely colleagues) so I’m glad I got these dates in the diary way back. I wasn’t really looking forward to getting one year older (for some reason, 28 seems so much older than 27) but now I’m there, I have a very good feeling about the next 12 months. Just don’t mention 30, ok…

Four Shoeper Challenge Saves!

Forgive me for a bit of a boring post, but I’m really beginning to realise that we’re halfway through the year as far as the Shoeper Challenge goes, and I still have the majority of my footwear collection to wear and photograph if I don’t want to be chucking it all out come February. So I’ve been powering through and getting rid of a few ‘easy’ saves, mostly flats and practical shoes. I know, Zzzzz. I promise the next post will be more fun – it’s my birthday so there’s lots of excuses to dress up! But as I’m saving my gladrags for the next few days, this does mean you’ve seen most of these outfits before – they’re old faithful dresses I’ve worn a gazillion times – so feel free to move on and give this post a miss. I just need to be sure to record these shoe saves so I’m not forced to bin them unnecessarily…

Tried & Tested: Big Beauty at One Stop Plus

I’ve not done a review of a plus range for a little while, because let’s be frank, who wants to see a size 14 modelling plus stuff when you can see that in the advertising and catalogues anyway? I think my high street reviews are probably a lot more useful (because they might make it in a 14, but that doesn’t mean it was made with a 14 in mind…), so I tend to leave the bulk of the reviews to the amazing community of size 16+ bloggers.

But, sometimes I just can’t turn an opportunity down and when that opportunity is to try something designed in collaboration with one of the aforementioned bloggers, I am powerless to refuse! So this is how I, oddly, came to find myself in a’straight’ sized version of an item from a plus size collection…

Get Bikini Ready: Ministry of Waxing Tried & Tested

They say that once you ‘go to Brazil’ you never go back. And The Ministry of Waxing definitely makes said trip a bit easier to bear.

I’ve always been a slave to Veet cream and a bit scared of salon waxing, but after getting one done for a review through work, I became a convert. I originally visited Ministry of Waxing on a cheap Keynoir deal, but have been back twice since and will no doubt continue to. The salon itself is more like a cool bar than a beauty salon, with lots of chrome, red leather, mirrors and quirky touches. You can get a variety of waxes, choosing from a takeaway style ‘menu’ at reception, but what they specialise in is the classic Brazilian wax. There are now Ministry of Waxing salons worldwide, but the brand started out in 2001 as the first salon to bring the Brazilian to Singapore…