Birthday OOTD with GatsbyLady*

For my birthday two weeks ago a cute dress for a family dinner was in order, and this beautiful 'Amy' dress* from GatsbyLady fit the bill perfectly. It's cute, a little quirky, the right amount of vintage, and I love it.

Bell sleeves are a huge trend for this year and this dress features them in a way that fits it's style wonderfully. I used to love bell sleeves as a teenager but they fell out of fashion and were impossible to get hold of, so glad to see them back!

I felt like a seventies dream when I put this dress on, so my trusty biker boots and mesh leggings that look like tights were the order of the day. These are footless leggings, and then the waist and butt area of them is a traditional legging material. It makes them comfy to wear and with boots they look like tights. I like that they flash a bit of tattoo through them.

It's fairly low cut, but nothing too much. I'm wearing a lace bralette under it and it didn't show at all, so most bra styles will be just fine with it. The fabric is gorgeous, soft, stretchy, thick enough to smooth out any visible bra patterning but not so thick it's overly warm.

I'm pretty tall, 5ft 11 (which apparently baffles everyone who reads my blog!) and the dress sits at mid-thigh on me. It'll be longer on most but I love a bit of thigh flashing so the length is great for me.

It was raining when I took these photos, so a windswept look was always going to happen. I'm considering changing my hair colour, any suggestions? I've been pink for a while now.

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

*denotes items gifted to me for review purposes. In no way does this impact upon my opinions which are entirely my own.

Dreaming of Manon Baptiste : Colourpop Hot to Trot

A Winter Party Outfit with Lady V London*

Lady V London are consistently a favourite company of mine, super inclusive sizing and always bringing out new styles and patterns. A lot of plus size babes love the vintage life, I'm not super into vintage designs, but I cannot resist a good Lady V London dress, worn my own way!

When Lady V London asked me what my faves were from the new collection, it was a hard choice, the new Lyra prints are stunning, and I haven't tried one of them yet, but the Phoebe dress* in fuchsia and black was too cute to resist. I've had a few pieces from them, but never a longer sleeved style, and this might just be my favourite yet.

It nips you in it at the waist with a faux waistband in the same fabric, has cute ruffles at the shoulders to give the sleeves a bit of something extra, and best of all in my opinion, the dress has an underskirt with it, hemmed with net! It gives the dress a really lovely fullness to it, and you could easily add a full tulle underskirt underneath it too, if you really wanted to give it some volume.

On me the dress sits just below knee length, I'm 5ft 11 so on most it would be more of a true midi style. The sleeves come to just below my elbows and it has a round neck that isn't too low. I got my usual size, and it fits perfectly on the waist, but there is room in the shoulders/bust area. If you are bustier than me you should be just fine with your usual size.

In true 'Kitty' style, I opted to pair it with my trusty pleather jacket and biker boots, a faux fur collar, and some mesh striped leggings. I also couldn't resist my Quay Australia rose gold sunglasses to hide my terrible eye bags. Which I then promptly dropped on the floor and scratched, so gutted!

Vintage dresses can be worn so many different ways, I like to make mine a bit more rock and roll, whilst still keeping the vintage silhouette. You can get the Phoebe dress in a variety of patterns and I think I am totally going to need to add more to my collection. It's the perfect style for winter parties, the longer sleeves keep you that bit warmer, whilst still looking lush.

What are your favourite styles from Lady V London?

Much love,

Kitty

xxxx

Nerd About Town : 5 Songs That Make Me Happy

*denotes an item that was gifted for review purposes. In no way does this impact upon my opinions which was entirely my own.

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A Morris-Wood Wedding : Something old...

Our wedding wasn't the most typical of weddings, but some traditions are too fun to pass up on. One of the ones I really wanted to do was the 'something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue'. Wedding traditions are totally optional, but I think this one is kind of adorable so I had to give it a go.

Something new is easy. So much of what you wear on your wedding day is new, so that was more than well covered. My dress, my shoes, my veil, my flower crown, all something new. Easy!

My something old was incredibly important to me. My necklace. I wore my Great-Grandmother's pearls. My Grandad had given them to my Nanny, and she gave them to me when I turned 18. I initially had a different idea of what to wear on the day, but when I really thought about it, this was perfect. This was so fitting and gorgeous, and I know it meant the world to my Grandad as well.

I don't have photos of the other twos parts of my 'somethings', but I still wanted to share. When it came to the morning of the wedding, I realised that I didn't really have a something borrowed. Roswell Ivory saved the day, lending me a brass pin for the day. I've actually still got it... oops. Must return it!

And my something blue, was my blue toe nails! I didn't have anyway of incorporating blue into my outfit or day, so painting my toe nails was a quick way to make sure I did all parts of the tradition. My toes were covered by my shoes so it didn't matter what colour I painted them!

Wearing my Great-Grandmother's pearls was so important to me. To be able to include a little piece of my family history was beautiful. I'm lucky to have them, and I'm so pleased I decided to wear them.

Did you do the 'something old' tradition on your wedding day? Tell me about it!

Much love,

|Kitty xxxxx

Alivya V Free : WedFest

Plus Equals Win!

Recently I was immensely lucky, and I won a £100 Plus Equals voucher via an instagram competition they ran! I was so excited, and I also immediately knew what I was going to spend that voucher on.

This magnificent faux leather jacket. I'd seen it before and fell in love, but just couldn't justify buying a third faux leather jacket, even if it is totally different to the others I own. This jacket retailed for £100, my voucher was for £100, it was meant to be.

Plus Equals sell up to a size 26 and are a vintage shop that specialises in plus size. I don't think I've ever seen another store offering vintage plus sizes, and especially not such unique upcycled and reclaimed pieces.

This jacket features a white panel along the inside of the collar and it fastens over to the left side rather than in the centre. The white sections have black ink splatters, and the rest of the jacket has predominantly white splatters, with some red. It also features rose gold hardware, which is a trend I am really late to get into and am now totally sold on.

Probably the coolest thing about this jacket is that the sleeves zip completely off, making it into a waistcoat. It makes the jacket so much more versatile, perfect for when the days start turning to autumn. I love a sleeveless cover up, I actually just cut the sleeves off a denim jacket I'm modifying because I love the style so much.

This jacket is all kinds of punk rock cool, and I am so happy I could add it to my wardrobe. Plus Equals have so many unique and unusual pieces, if you want a really stand out piece definitely check them out. All their pieces are one offs, so you know you aren't going to bump into anyone else rocking the same thing!

This is absolutely one of the coolest things I own, so thank you Plus Equals! 

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

PS. My sunglasses are by Quay Australia and I got them on ASOS. They are sold out, but they tend to release this style in other colours each season.

Swimsuit Impossible : Plunge Bra from Navabi

A Summer BBQ Dress with Dolly and Dotty*

Summer is finally here and cute BBQ looks are the way forward! I love a day outside and a cute dress is my favourite thing to wear. Vintage dresses are just perfect for summer and this pale pink number from Dolly and Dotty is ideal. While they list themselves as stocking sizes 6-24 some of their styles are available in a size 26 and they also stock accessories too.

Nancy Sweetheart Dress in Peach*

I don't usually wear such pastel colours but I had a feeling this peachy colour with my washed out hair would really work together and I think they do! Dolly and Dotty sent me a matching peach belt, and also this bright teal colour which I opted to wear with it. I love the colour contrast. I'm 5ft 11 and it sits just above knee height on me so on most people would be longer. It's a nice light fabric so ideal in the heat. With a pale colour like this I'd recommend making sure your undergarments were also very pale or skin coloured just in case.

This dress is really cute, but as you can see from my bust area, you can definitely size down in it. It has a shirred elasticated back so while this dress goes up to a size 26, if you are bigger than a size 26 you could give it a go! My usual size was really roomy in the bust for me and I needed a size down at least. I'm not particularly blessed in the bust department but if you are you shouldn't have any problems with having room in this dress. The halterneck style straps are in a different place to where I usually expect them to be in a dress of this style but it still felt very secure once tied. Usually they are positioned a little wider but it worked. You could wear the bow on the waist belt on the front or the back, entirely up to you!

This particular style dress is available in a huge range of colours, 15 in total! So if you like it but don't like this pale colour, they have it in everything from brown, to grey, red, green, various shades of blue and more.

Dolly and Dotty have great plans for expanding their size ranges and are really enthusiastic about being able to sell their clothes to everyone, so if you don't currently fit in their range, keep an eye out, they have plans!

Much love,

Kitty xxxxx

A BBQ OOTD : A Little Black Dress with Navabi

*denotes items that were gifted to me for review purposes. In no way does this impact upon my opinions which are entirely my own.

DIY Jewellery Holder with Sass & Belle

I have a little bit of a problem with jewellery. In that well, it fills my jewellery boxes, my drawers, my cupboards, I have kiiiiind of a lot! So recently I've been thinking about new ways that I can store my necklaces in particular, and thanks to Sass & Belle, I had an idea! When I tweeted about my idea, Sass & Belle were kind enough to get in touch and were excited by the idea too, so decided to send me the pieces I needed for it from them. What sweethearts!

And this is the finished product! A DIY jewellery holder made using Sass & Belle's amazing door & drawer knobs, mounted onto a piece of wood.

I had a lot of help with the actual making of this, so huge thanks go to my neighbour and friend Andy who was super enthusiastic and helped put it together better than I could have dreamed of it going!

Stag Head Drawer Knob £4.50

Rabbit Head Boudoir Drawer Knob in Cream £6.50

Andy was also responsible for this stunning piece of wood, it's actually part of the old bar our local pub recently replaced, which we are regulars in, so it makes it even more special for me!

Cat Dress Up Drawer Knob £4.50

Elephant Head Boudoir Drawer Knob in Cream £3.50

Andy drilled, and mounted each drawer knob, so that they didn't go all the way through the wood. By not having them sit flush to the wood, it allowed for more room to hand jewellery on them, without having to balance pieces on the decorative parts of the knobs.

Vintage Clock Drawer Knob £3

Skull Drawer Knob £4

I picked out drawer knobs that appealed to my personal style, spooky and cute, with a hint of nature. Sass & Belle also have adorable pastel drawer knobs, flowery patterns, cute animals, and vintage prints, so you can truly match your choices to your room decor. Of course I chose stags, because I have them all over the house, cats because I have kitties, the skull is creepy cute, the swallow is reminiscent of classic tattoos, and I just adore that elephant!

19th Century Eye Print Drawer Knob £4.50

Swallow Boudoir Drawer Knob in Cream £4.50

I love the intricacy of the cream drawer knobs, the designs are beautiful and look vintage and worn. They are sturdy and strong, so perfect for hanging jewellery on without worrying about breaking them. I was really impressed with their quality. The solid metal that screws through the wood is thick and affixed to the drawer knob itself incredibly well.

All jewellery pictured is from the fabulous Sugar & Vice, whose jewellery is the major reason for my needing more room for storage!

What do you think? I'm so thrilled with it! It came out so well, Andy was an amazing help, and Sass & Belle's kitsch range of drawer knobs was perfect for a unique DIY project. Thank you so much! I can now proudly display so much of my jewellery, and clearly be able to see my different pieces, as well as remove them easily.

Much love,

Kitty xxxxx

The drawer knobs featured in this post were gifted to me by Sass & Belle for the purpose of this project. In no way does this affect my opinion of the items, which are all my own.