What to Wear to a Fine Dine Affair

Get confused enough by the menu selections or cutlery positioning without the worry of what to wear to a formal dinner? Here are some simple suggestions for an appearance of sophistication without straying too far from your day to day wardrobe.

The Work Event

In addition to dressing smart in the office, there are the occasions when work takes you out of hours. Whether it’s for drinks or dinner a high waisted pencil skirt teamed with a tailored jacket will never serve you wrong. Although a black silk strappy dress with a lacy jacket could serve even better. The key is to add a touch of fun to make it less dull daytime and more evening sophistication. Accessorize with some colourful pendant earrings and a clutch and you’re ready to work the room.

The After Work Dinner

Plans after work are inevitable, and frankly life-saving. However there is a different style checklist for meeting your friends at the pub and meeting a special someone for a fancy dinner. What’s needed here is a transitional outfit to take you from under your desk right onto the high end restaurant catwalk. A potential weapon could be the little black dress. Teamed with a suit jacket by day and sharp heels by night all that’s needed here is a switch of accessories. Ditching the work bag behind in exchange for a statement mini-bag will make it a night time outfit. However, what’s really needed is a shimmer of elegant jewellery; some big earrings matched with sophisticated neck candy. Try Pandora’s necklaces for women to catch some attention with a striking pendant.

The Golden Ticket Event

Instead of a work event that you have to rush for, it is sometimes more overwhelming to have a special event that you need to plan for. If it is a ticketed event there is nothing better than to go all out. This could be a midi dress with a statement necklace and killer heels. If you prefer to stick to simple sophistication try pastels, a colour trend right now, with a detailed jacket. Or lucky for you black and white statement is on a hype at the moment.

Key rules to apply; try to coordinate your clutch, your shoes and your accessories but don’t make them match, include no more than three colours in your outfit and if you’re going for a bold dress keep that jewellery simple (and vice versa). Finally, remember that whatever event and no matter how formal, the best attire to wear is an air of confidence.

Outfit Post: Jean Paul Gaultier and Double Denim

Hi everyone! I hope the weekend weather has been kind to you-where I am it's been getting warmer over the weekend and it stayed dry yesterday for the boot sale. It was slim pickings on the bargain front but I did manage to get some All Saints jeans for just £3 which are the perfect darker blue shade for Autumn and Winter. My outfit choice was a mix of double denim and my Jean Paul Gaultier 90s stretchy dress which I wore as a top. This was originally a boot sale find and was only £1 a few years ago:

The Gaultier top is ideal for wearing with blue denim and I wore my yellow neon hoop earrings to go with the yellow in the top. My denim jacket is by Gap and was a charity shop find earlier this year for around £4.99:

I also wore my trusty grey skinny jeans from River Island which are one of my favourite pairs to wear when it's not so hot. Grey jeans for me are an essential in a denim wardrobe, they are a great neutral and work with virtually any other colour for any season too:

I'm currently debating what items I want to invest in for the Autumn/Winter season- a couple more pairs of jeans and some knits definitely feature and of course as soon as I make my thrifty purchases I'll be sure to share them here first!! Look  out for my thrifted All Saints jeans in an upcoming outfit post on LiveToLoveDenim.com

I'm linking this post to the lovely Patti at NotDeadYetStyle for Visible Monday and the gorgeous Claire-Justine oxox for Creative Monday. Wishing you all a great week ahead too. I know there are some of you that are not even thinking of Autumn purchases but for those of you that are, what is on your style radar for the coming new season?

Outfit Post-Tales of Childhood, Spanish Espadrilles and an Egyptian Tunic

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely week so far, time during the summer holidays seems to be whizzing by and it's great how the weather is still so lovely with the sun shining and making me feel so cheery!!

When I was little, I had a neighbour who was a couple of years older than me and she had bought for her a pair of red espadrille sandals-wow, was I impressed at how the laces did up around the ankles and the legs and she looked so cool in hers. When my best friend in primary school also got a pair I did so so want a pair but unfortunately for me as a girl it was not meant to be.

At the boot sale a few Saturdays ago was sandal heaven- I bagged three as new pairs for a total of £7.50 from different sellers and one of them was these lovely yellow Spanish espadrilles, which have a leather lining and the traditional rope wedge heel-tying up the laces around my legs brought back all those girly memories of the espadrilles! My pair were just £2.50 and wearing them all day yesterday was comfort heaven too:

I  love the bright yellow colour-wearing them with darker and neutral colours really put a zing into my outfit in general:

Another item I thrifted last month was this crisp white cotton tunic blouse which was from my local Sue Ryder charity shop for £3.99. I love the embroidery-it looks like it could have been done by hand. The length and cut of the blouse is perfect for Summer and the label is in Arabic and English- 100% cotton, made in Egypt:

My trousers are skinny jeans from TU at Sainsburys and I bought these in the January sales for just £9-they have a slight animal embossed print pattern and the colour of them means they can be worn all year round too.  They are a tiny bit snug on the waist though- I really need to get an exercise regime sorted out, but it's just not happening at the moment, hehe!!

Do you have any childhood fashion memories that you've now been able to wear as an adult?

Have a great week everyone!!

Outfit post: Thrifted Versace and Kimono Blue Florals for Sunday Boot Sales

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend, the weather is still really gorgeous and it's so nice to enjoy the school summer holidays with fabulous sunshine on tap.

We decided to visit a new to us countryside boot sale which is a few miles away but is mainly filled with sellers who are clearing their cupboards rather than new market trader stalls. It's a perfect size too-not too big and not too small and the bonus of this one is it's a 'lazy bones' one which gets going from around midday onwards. En route we also found another one which was literally only a few minutes away in the car from the lazy bones one and which shuts at around midday.

I decided to wear my favourite cobalt blue original 90s Versace skinny jeans with a mushroom colour cami top from Marks & Spencer (new) and a thrifted blue floral kimono from Matalan which I thrifted at last weeks lazy bones boot sale for just £1:

 I love how the modern blue florals combine nicely with my nearly 25 year jeans, which are so stretchy, so comfortable and still on trend colour and style wise all these years on. I thrifted these Versace jeans a few years ago for around £5 from a neighbouring town's Cancer Research charity shop- I remember I nearly passed on them but I returned a liitle while later to buy them and they've been a real style staple in my wardrobe:

This was photo was taken on the car park field of the first boot sale we pulled up on-the view was spectacular of the reservoir lake in front of us:

As it was our first time at this one and we arrived at around midday, the sellers were already packing up. Eager to get even just one bargain, I came across a lady selling this vintage and 'as new' faux fur jacket who didn't want to take it back home and said I could have it for £1!!

We then went on to the lazy bones boot sale but I didn't get anything-except a sugared donut to eat with some fresh watermelon that we had brought with us- it really was a yummy combination!!

En route home we decided to stop off for a cheeky drink before catching the athletics and football which were both on the TV. We love going to this particular little pub and we always seem to go there when it's gloriously hot and sunny:

The blooms were beautiful and the view from our seat over the village green was so lovely too:

It always seems to be so windy lately, excuse the windswept pose!!

A relaxing end to the boot sale walks was to enjoy a mid afternoon lager shandy before going home to a lovely roast dinner!!

I'm linking this post to the lovely Patti at NotDeadYetStyle for Visible Monday. Another week involving volunteering means I'll be in and out a lot but I will try my best to visit all my lovely readers and commenters-wishing you all a really great week ahead!!

Coloured Contact Lenses and Fashion

If you've ever been stuck for inspiration for that perfect outfit, or had difficulty seeking the killer dress to match your eyes, help is at hand - and it's more affordable and simpler than you might think.

Change your eyes!

The use of coloured contact lenses is a growing trend. Once the preserve of the movie industry or the theatre, fashion contact lenses are the ideal way to change your look or match up with your favourite dress. From simple, natural looking tones to the dramatic effects of patterned lenses, slip in a pair and transform your look in seconds. Varying your eye make up is one route to changing your appearance, but altering the tone or look of your lenses adds a lot more variety.

Weighing up the Cost

Fashion lenses are much cheaper than most normal lenses especially online at visiondirect.co.uk: as they are often worn for special occasions rather than as a long-term visual aid, the lenses are usually bright plastic creations - that said, many can last for up to a year without noticeable degradation and, importantly, with no effect on your eyes. Many retailers offer 3 month guarantees on their lenses, with money-back options available if you're not satisfied.

Party Time

For many people, Halloween parties are a great way to let loose and go all out to impress: traditionally this involves make-up, wigs and outfits to achieve a dramatic look. Yet throw in a pair of lenses and your look can be truly transformed - from lenses with spiders to the sort of look often seen in a horror movie, once again the fashion lens can provide that extra-special touch at a budget price. 

Whether you're seeking a change to your everyday look or wanting a radical way to spice up your wardrobe, why not give fashion contact lenses a try - you won't regret it!