Me, the last few weeks: Omg I’m so excited it’s spring 😀 😀 😀
Spring, on the 2nd of April, in the South East of England: It’s 1°C, ice on car windshields, tried to snow the last couple days.
Me, waking up to that nonsense ready to take these summer dress pictures: Shocked Pikachu meme
A couple days ago I shared with you Dolly & Dotty’s leopard print Lily dress. I really tried to emphasise that it could be styled both up or down, but at the end of the day we all have dress cuts we gravitate towards and if Lily didn’t tick your personal box then that’s okay. Buuuut, saying that, I don’t think that necessarily means Dolly & Dotty’s leopard print isn’t for you, because it’s a delightfully understated leopard print (as far as leopard prints ever can be, really,) and they utilise it in several other clothing items. Today I wanted to show you another of the options, just because I love this li’l lep so much. Shirtwaister fans, this one’s for you–let’s look at Penelope!
I’m not a huge jewellery person. I don’t have pierced ears and I never really got into rings. My hair always seems to tangle around the clasp of necklaces, which also twist as I wear them, so more often than not I just forget to put them on, even though I own many. Mostly, I love a brooch and a bangle. Or, well, three bangles, more specifically, because as a lover of colour blocking my accessories I typically like to stack together matching bangles of varying widths. That makes Splendette my perfect bangle maker because every release comes in 3 widths, as well as in 3 wrist sizes, so no folks get left out. Let’s take a look at their lush new Spring Florals line.Â
Once you’ve been in the vintage-inspired modern-made clothing realm for long enough you’re often able to recognise which brand made an item of clothing at first glance. Some brands are quirkier with their prints, others have certain signature design details they repeat over and over. For me, I’m usually able to recognise a The Pretty Dress Company item from the timeless simplicity of its design. Typically sleek, understated and endlessly chic, they’re a perfect mixture of 1950s silhouettes meeting the modern world, wearable for vintage lovers and current-fashion lovers alike. Today’s Myla dress is another perfect example of TPDC’s refined elegance.
Once upon a time black dresses just didn’t call to me. I wanted colour, prints, everything paired with red! All bold all the time, this bitch is underlined! Fast forward a few years to present day Amy and my tastes have changed several times over, these days favouring darker, rich tones, and definitely, finally, appreciative of a good black dress. And this Scarlette? Oh, she’s a good black dress.
It’s not often polka dots catch my eye, despite them being prevalent in the vintage-inspired clothing world. There’s something about black polka dots on white, though, that I really love. Maybe it’s the cute, fun feel that polka dots give off warring with the most minimalist, simple colour pairing possible. I think it’s as chic as polka dots are able to get, but it still retains their whimsy.
I keep seeing people counting down to spring, but I just spent 3.5 days in a dim, chilly house without power due to Storm Eunice, with the wind whistling in our chimney and regular bouts of rain, so spring currently feels quite far away. It’s been so wet and dreary one could be mistaken for believing it was the depths of autumn, not almost spring, and the only time the sun has come out since last Friday has been alongside blasting winds. With all that in mind, it feels perfectly apt to focus today on tartan, a print that always feels best to me in the cold weather months. Thankfully this one can at least brighten up all this dreariness with its bursting yellow.
I did a styled 3 ways post back last Spring about the Deadly is the Female Claudia gown, as a one off. That post was inspired by the fact that I didn’t let myself buy a dress I really wanted until I realised just how versatile it could be for me. This post, though, will almost be the opposite; I wanted the Tilly Velvet prom dress by The Pretty Dress Company for a couple years, but because it was so obviously an occasion dress, and also happened to be outside of the budget for what I will usually spend on a dress, it was totally off my conceivable buy list until it went on sale this January. Even once it was on sale I couldn’t help but um and ah over it, not just because I’ve largely got into better habits about fully thinking through bigger purchases, but also because it mostly felt like a special occasion dress, and as much as I love those and believe they need not be saved for best, realistically I couldn’t deny that I have so many fancy dresses that I really didn’t need another one, especially in the (hopefully!) tail end of a pandemic. Continue reading
I’ve never really been one to suffer from FOMO, except when it comes to clothes. So when The Pretty Dress Company released their signature Tilly prom dress in multiple velvet colourways for the 2021 festive season and my social feeds filled up with dozens of gorgeous pinups twirling in their Tillys in the run up to Christmas, yes, I’ll admit, I was jealous. The Tilly is a slight reimagining of their Thea swing dress from a few years back, the same flattering overall shape but with statement bows added to the off-the-shoulder sleeves. I owned the Thea in a cobalt blue and it was one of my favourite dresses to wear, until I gained weight and sized out of it. I still have it, packed away carefully in storage in case I fit it again someday. So for the Tilly dress to offer that same level of glamour and style as Thea did, but in lush, sumptuous velvets…oh, my heart ached. It wasn’t in my winter budget to treat myself to a Tilly, so I felt certain that we would never be–or at least, not this season.
But then one day, not too long ago, I read those magic, magic words: end of season sale, up to 50% off.Â
Dreams really do come true!
There’s something I do which may or may not be weird: I go through phases of hyper-focusing on certain aspects of my wardrobe. (Is that just me?) I’ll be putting together an outfit and find myself thinking something like ‘damn, this would be perfect if I had a velvet navy bag to wear it with,’ because I am a bit obsessive about colour matching, and once the idea occurs to me that my collection has a glaring hole in it, suddenly all I want is to find the perfect piece within my budget to fill it. These phases are often accessories focused—hats, bags, belts, bangles.
My latest phase is all about finding pretty flats. It started at the end of last year, when I treated myself to two pairs of Charlie Stone Shoes‘ not-actually-fully-flat flats. I loved them so much that I began to daydream about their other gorgeous flats, which I didn’t need but definitely wanted. But then, oh ho! What did I realise? I actually do need some of them, because guess what, they fill one of the gaps in my shoe collection: comfortable, good quality flats in staple colours I will regularly wear, that—here is the crucial bit—I CAN EASILY CLEAN.
Miss Amy May 