w.i.w.t :: hardwear and headwear

dress+shoes :: new look // cardigan+crown :: primark // wig c/o annabelle's wigs // bag c/o ji ji kiki

this dress has been hanging up in my wardrobe since probably my birthday; last september. i picked it up on sale after seeing a friend at work wear it at look lovely. it doesn't have any lining, and as a rule, a dress needs lining to stop it from sticking to my tights and to give the skirt some weight so it doesn't fly away. well, for £6 i put all those thoughts aside, and bought the dress.

i put it on today, and was shocked. it's only a size 12, but it's masssssive on me. i mean, i have been eating better and exercising over the last few weeks, but i don't account that to the dramatic size difference in this dress, as all my other size 12 dresses still fit fine (if not more comfortably around the bust!). i wore it out shopping on sunday, and within an hour, was getting fed up with having to pull it down when it stuck to my tights. next time, a slip will be required!

the colours in the dress are 100% perfect for me and just about everything else in my wardrobe. the teal highlights in the floral print meant that this gorgeous weekend in berlin bag by ji ji kiki was the ideal accessory for the day, as was the cream floral crown that i picked up for a steal after seeing natasha'a crown haul last week.

i love the happy juxtaposition of the hard zips on the bag and the studs on the shoes against the florals in the crown and the colours in the dress. what do you think?

meet the sponsors :: toni

since 'meeting' toni earlier this month, i have been completely and utterly infatuated with her blog lemon freckles. seeing as she's been sat over there on the sidebar for a few weeks now, i thought it was high time to introduce her to you all - although you have probably seen her pop up all over the bloggersphere lately! the little so-and-so likes to get around....

toni, you're fairly new to the bloggersphere - tell us why you started your blog.

I’ve been following a few blogs now for a couple of years and always admired how creative bloggers are, so when I was looking for another creative outlet and also a way I could share a bit of my life with family back home, blogging seemed like the perfect answer!  I didn't expect to love it as much as I have, it is without a doubt one of the best things I have done.

where did the name lemon freckles come from?

Sadly no big story, it was just something me and the fella came up with.  We spent an evening throwing names about and it just kind of happened.  He said how much he loved my freckles and we played with different ideas from there really.

what's been the best thing about having your blog?

I think being able to connect with other bloggers who share similar aspirations, I’ve felt so inspired by so many wonderful blogs and being able to inspire others too has been such a wonderful thing.

you're getting married soon! how's the planning going?

O lord!  Planning is far from either of our strong points, I recently shared on the blog about how I'm attempting to become a little more choleric we’re both extremely/to laid back.  So we have everything ready apart from the important things, like a venue. Ooooops!

i love your DIY projects! which has been the most fun for you?

Thanks! I think it would have to be the dress I made.  I went on a dress-in-a-day course, which was one of the best things I’ve done, as it’s kept my summer wardrobe stocked up and i’ve managed to save a few pennies by just making new dresses now instead hitting the shops every week.

what's the best way to unwind after a long day?

Sewing. I love coming home and attempting to make something new, I get so much satisfaction from sewing.  I really enjoy making homemade gifts for friends and family, I recently made a bag for a friend of mine and it really makes me happy seeing her use it all the time.

blog // twitter // instagram

your pictures are amazing - what tools do you use?

Lots of different tools really, I use a couple of iPhone apps, one of them being Pixlr-o-matic which comes with tones of brilliant filters and of course I have started using the wonder Beautiful Mess app, which is ridiculously cute!  I also use Gimp a lot to edit photos and add different layers.  After getting past the initial scariness of how complicated Gimp looks, it turns out its a really simple and super user friendly image manipulation program, I would recommend it for all bloggers really, if you can’t get hold of photoshop.

and probably the most important question... tea or coffee?

Tea!  No question about it, I love a coffee every now and again but nothing beats a good english tea with a cheeky biscuit. 

well there you have it; the all-important info about this freckled lady. now why don't you pop over to lemon freckles and say hello (and swoon over her yourself!).

the a to z of me :: q

*a-z of me is a weekly series created when i was suffering writers block. i also thought it might be a good way for you to get to know me a little bit better... outside of the general nonsense and backwards mirror pictures. to follow the rest of the series, click here.

q is for quirky!

if you're new to the blog, there's something you need to know about me; i'm not really... 'normal'. that's not to say i'm weird or particularly strange, it's just.. well, i prefer to err on the side of quirky. mostly for lolz, but also because i find it rather dull being like everyone else.

growing up, i always wanted to fit in but knew there was something wrong with dressing like everyone, in order to look like everyone. after school, and into adulthood, i was all about colourcolourcolour and more colour while everyone else was very much into wearing black. i would wear stupid amounts of cheap costume jewellery, and have no problem adorning my hair with glitter or flowers or bows. the older i get, the more i seem to regress back to this stage of my life!

working at the makeup counter meant access to thousands of different nail polishes and eye shadows, with a different colour lip gloss for every day of the week. i owned hundreds of pairs of shoes, in rainbow brights to wear with my charity shopped dresses and cardigans. the sale rails in the chain stores always had a healthy range of pieces of clothing that no-one else wanted, and strangely (to everyone but me), i wanted them all!


working in retail was hard though. it's hard to be yourself when you're selling someone else's style. i tried my best, but usually just got a lot of odd looks. it's hard to explain your love of black tights in an australian summer! really, the move to london was the best decision i ever made. here, everyone is quirky - or, kooky, usually. here, i'm not the only person dressing like me. there are hundreds and thousands of people walking around the streets dressing like themselves - not each other.

since the move, and the creation of this blog, i have met and made some fabulous quirky friends in this bloggersphere (you can find them all on the sidebar!) after bonding over a mutual love of heavy bangs and thick glasses, and i have come to the conclusion that being quirky is just about the best thing about me.



also: do you have a burning question you wan to ask? do so in the comments, i've got a faq in the works!

there's always money in the banana stand

to celebrate the 'new series' of arrested development coming to netflix later this month, there was a real-life, fully functioning 'bluth's frozen bananas' stand out the front of my work on thursday morning. it's not uncommon for random pop up stalls to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye in that particular square, so once the news got out (by me) that the stand was there, you could practically feel the stampede.

don't get me wrong, i'm not a massive fan of the show, but i have watched most of the episodes. i don't even have netflix, but i was more than happy to indulge in a free frozen banana - and on my fast day, no less!

brand crushing :: bonne chance collections

lately, i have been seeing this online boutique pop up everywhere. initially, they followed me on twitter, then liked my facebook page. naturally, i returned the favour - without too much thought, and we exchanged pleasantries. then, i saw the shop advertised on one of my frequently visited blogs. this piqued my curiosity, so i thought i'd better have a look at the site to see what all the fuss was about...

except, the site was blocked by the security admin on my work computer; the reason given was "sex". this really had me curious! (not because i'm a perve, but because they claimed to be an online store!) i jumped on my phone, and followed the link on their twitter page only  to find... 

pictured :: 1//2//3//4//5//6//7 special mentions :: 8//9//10

oh, just some of the most beautiful dresses i have ever seen! bonne chance col are a modern online boutique with a distinct vintage flair, and that is evident on their landing page; each of their pretty frocks is styled on the mid-century fit-and-flare pattern - which is my absolute go-to style, and not a single one of them is made a dull or boring colour or print.

better still, they offer free and fast shipping to (almost) everywhere. excuse me now while i got and rape my credit card.

* not a sponsored post.just genuine adoration.