I don’t know wine I love you…

…but I do! Excuse the short post, but I’m still settling into my new job and there’s not much time for blogging when I get home from…um, blogging. But I’m absolutely in love with the current trend for rich jewel tones and wanted to share a few of my finds. I remember having a burgundy / wine coloured maxi dress when I was about 10 (I was a fashion-forward if slightly precocious 10 year old!) which obviously began my love affair with the colour. It looks great with blonde hair but is a bit easier to wear than full-on pillarbox red. So far this season I’ve aquired a pair of cropped, Audrey Hepburn-esque slim trousers in the colour, and I’m on the lookout for the perfect blouse to team with them for some serious colour-blocking (teamed with tan accessories). I think this Peacocks one might be a winner…for £16 who can say no?

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…

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…

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…

Window shopping: Top Summer sale fashion finds!

It’s Summer sales time, and this year’s bad weather means there are even more items to choose from as people are a bit cautious of spending too much on flippy Summer dresses and strappy sandals when most days are still spend in tights and coats! It’s a great time to stock up – particularly if you have a Summer holiday coming – so I’ve picked some of my favourite sale finds to help you along. There are loads of lovely shoes and some fabulous Summer frocks, and nothing on this page costs more than £35 (except one pair of fabulous Carvela shoes I couldn’t resist including). Personally, I’ve got my eye on a pair of fabulous wedges that’ll give height with a bit of added comfort, and a really nice bright 50s dress to wear for my birthday in August. What’s new, eh?!

Tried & Tested: Dee.V by Diana Vickers for Very.co.uk

Diana Vickers’ husky voice and propensity to yelp may be something of an aquired taste, but her new clothing range for Very.co.uk is a bit easier to fall in love with. A capsule range of vintage-inspired florals, fities skirts and 60s-inspired separates, it appealed instantly to me, so when Very got in touch to offer an item from their huge range for review, I knew I had to go with something from Diana’s collection.

I picked the Contrast Collar Printed Dress (£49) which I thought was very cute with its big pink buttons and collar. I’m getting to the point where I’m far too old to pull off anything this twee, so let’s call this my last hurrah. I can’t resist anything a bit childish!

Fitting Room Adventures: Pepperberry

Pepperberry is the recently relaunched clothing range from underwear afficionados Bravissimo. Available in sizes 8 – 18 in three bust sizes (curvy, really curvy and super curvy) it aims to cater for women who’re fed up of having to buy a size bigger to accomodate their bust. As a DD/E cup, I own a couple of dresses from the old Bravissimo range (bought in the sales!) and they’re a beautiful fit, but in general the range had a tendency to be a bit frumpy and boring at times, so I was excited to see what they came up with in this new incarnation. I’d heard whisperings that there was a bit of a 50s influence, and the image above (the first to be released) definitely supported that idea…

Ten things I love (and none of them are dresses)

We all know by now that I rely a little bit too much on the whole ‘put on tights, add dress, throw on some shoes, leave house’ approach to getting dressed in the morning. But in order not be quite so predictable in the way I dress, I’ve been trying to move away from that. It hasn’t gone particularly well – mostly, I’ve been wearing more coloured tights (oooh, innovative!) and trying to wear a pair of earrings for more than half an hour before I get bored and remove them – but I’m also trying to stop myself from going directly to the ‘dresses’ page when I’m browsing online. I’m finding myself increasingly drawn towards separates – mostly blouses, skirts and shorts – and great statement accessories. Here are just a few of the things I’ve discovered by making that tiny little change…

March Wishlist: Lighten Up

I’m dreaming of Spring, and the time I can finally put my winter coats back in the wardrobe and pull out the lighter jackets, blazers and my beloved beige belted trench (from Gap, bought forever ago). With that in mind, my March wishlist is all about a lighter colour scheme, dotted with my current colour obsession – rust. I just managed to bag the last ASOS pleated skirt 2-in-1 dress in my size and I’m really hoping it doesn’t look too mumsy on a curvier figure. Pleats are hard enough to pull off at the best of times, but I love the colour combo enough to risk it – I can always take advantage of the great returns policy! See over the jump for bigger pics and product details…

You’d never guess I liked it: The Parka

I have a huge soft spot for the parka. It goes against just about everything that I love in fashion – it’s quite masculine, oversize and screams ‘utility’ not ‘pretty’, but there is something about the artful way in which a really stylish woman can pull off such a functional piece of clothing that I really love. This stems back to about 2007, when The Sartorialist posted a picture of a glam woman in killer heels topped with a massive parka. It’s not a look I could pull off, but ‘Parka on Heels‘ became a bit of fixation of mine. There was even a sequel…