In the navy.

I haven't bought a lot in the Christmas sales, but I couldn't resist a trip onto the Dorothy Perkins website. Last year I got three dresses for just £15 each (one, two, three) and was hoping lightning would strike twice. It actually kinda did! I picked up three dresses again, each at just £17 each. Slightly more than last year, but still a total bargain though - and I had a £20 Arcadia giftcard, to boot!

I wasn't sure about this navy dress when I tried it on for the first time, but when I dressed it up and snipped off the belt loops, I realised I loved it. It's a fabulous length and I adore the neckline, plus the skirt is so spinny! It's my favourite kind of dress in that I could wear it anywhere - work, day, night - it's all good. And it's stretchy and doesn't need ironing. And - AND - it's not a high neck! Why are all dresses high necked, lately? A lot of my favourite dresses are high necked, and I like the dresses, but constantly think that if they were scoop necked, they'd be a lot better and more flattering.

Dress - Dorothy Perkins | Jacket - Red Herring at Debenhams (featured here) | Tights - Primark

Belt - Topshop | Necklace - Benita Blue | Bronx Low Boots c/o Spartoo

Heidi Braids tutorial featured here | Christmas Pudding nails tutorial featured here

A navy dress is one of those essentials that I actually did not have, shockingly. Now that school is but a distant memory, I realise how much I love navy - like black, it goes with everything, but the colours blend in a more subtle way. I love it with these maroon tights, and on Christmas Day I wore it with red tights and a red belt. So pretty! I'm also completely infatuated with these shoes. Brogues just don't suit me, unless you slap a GIANT heel on them and then I am all for them. Yay.

 

There's still lots to be had at the Dotty Ps sale - alone with my navy dress, I also bought it in teal and this pretty berry-coloured number. LOVE the sleeves. Have you bought any amazing sale bargains? God, I love sales.

Backpack, backpack.

You might have noticed, but I'm quite an obsessive person, and will basically fixate on something until I get it. That is probably how I ended up with so many dresses. But anyway - right now, my obsessive eye is focused on rucksacks. I know this is totally the wrong time of year to be thinking about it, but I'm already thinking about the summer, and my trip to Glastonbury (which I missed SO much last year!).

Having the right bag for a festival is so important - the last few years, I've taken a shoulder bag, and I always suffer by the end of the week with aching shoulders. There's so much you have to carry - water, those all-important emergency cans of cider and layers for later in the day. On my holiday earlier this year, I took a little Primark rucksack with me, and it made lugging my big old camera around so much more bearable! I just don't trust a Primark bag at a festival though, they're not made to last, and I know from experience that bags die at festivals. They do.

Now, although it seems like a weird time of year to be thinking about this kind of thing, it's actually sort of sensible as I keep spying rucksacks in the sales. I am a big fan of snapping stuff up when you see them and putting them away for when you need them. Here are some of the bags I've spotted, but do look in the shops - it's not online, but my local Topshop has a denim studded number in the sale for £25 that's making my credit card itch (the only thing that's putting me off is that it's not waterproof - it is for GLASTONBURY, after all...)


Glittery Rucksack - Aldo at ASOS
£25 (down from £48!)


White Leather Rucksack - ASOS
£36 (down from a whopping £120!)


Sabrina Rucksack in Black or Brown - Spartoo
£85.20 (down from £141.99)


Grey Studded Rucksack - River Island
£35


Brown leather look rucksack - River Island  (this is actually for men, but boo to that!)
£28


Patchwork Rucksack - Urban Outfitters
£25 (down from £48)


Aztec Rucksack - Urban Outfitters
£25 (down from £48)


Leather Look Studded Rucksack - Urban Outfitters
£25 (down from £48)


Acid Wash Green Rucksack - Topshop
£34
A list of rucksacks seems so much more practical than my usual wishlists, but sometimes practical is good. My dream bag is probably a leather one, because I know it'll be waterproof and last and last and last, but my bank balance is not so sure. Although, that white ASOS number up there is a total bargain for real leather, but is a white bag at a festival REALLY the most practical thing in the world? Oh, please. Help me decide!

Baby love, my baby love.

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I spent mine with family, the highlight of which was having lots and lots of cuddles with my sister's new baby, Noah. I'm sorry if small children aren't your thing, because this post can very accurately be tagged as 'babyspam', much like last year's post about baby Cameron.

Anyway. This is Noah. I think he looks like a little baby turtle.

This is big brother Cameron, doing his best 'Up to something' face.

He's a dribble monster at the moment, but still pretty damn cute.

And big sister Ellis-Rose, who is getting prettier by the day.

My brother's lovely kids, Jonny and Elizabeth, who was loving her new Converse trainers (even if she did try and put them on over her own snazzy silver shoes)...

My lovely Granny with Noah, accessorising beautifully of course!

Mum and Noah...

...and Mum's other baby, Daisy.

Cameron, generously giving Daisy his toys. She's not sure.

In short, I have a really beautiful family.

(Yes, he's eating a coaster.)

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope by now you are all thoroughly stuffed with turkey and Bailey's and puddings upon puddings and that you all got a pony.

Just a little party girl.

Oh man, I kind of miss Friday Frocks. I like posting dresses every week! It gives me an excuse to buy more dresses! But... WAIT. That was a big part of why I stopped Friday Frocks. My poor, poor wallet. And so, I made a bit of a pact with myself that this year, for Christmas party season, I would exercise a 'Wear It Again' policy. And I did!

Our work Christmas do, for instance, I took the wedding outfit I wore in May out for another outing. I LOVE this dress. It's so pretty with the embellished waist, and has some clever corseting in the bodice. It's basically awesome. And pink! I do not wear a lot of pink, but you know what? I LIKE IT. I don't think it clashes with my hair, but it did clash with my inevitably red wine stained lips. I've only got into red wine this year (and in a big way) but man, I get the WORST red wine lips. I think it's because I have a giant mouth.





Dress - Warehouse (originally posted here) | Bow - Crown & Glory
Also! I went to these posh business awards with work - kind of a weird place to be, but fun! A LOT of hot men there. So typically, I ended up dancing with the middle-aged portly gentlemen because that is how I roll. (Seriously. This is why I'm single, I think.)

I rewore again, though, and brought out this black sparkly number - last seen at NYE. It's lovely and elegant, but with the black dress, demure neckline, hair donut and the gingerness, I kind of felt like Adele. Anyone else feeling it?


Dress - Oasis (originally posted here) | Jewellery - Topshop
THIS New Years, though, I'm breaking my rule, because I bought this amazing slice of blue sparkly amazingness the other day and I ADORE it. It is a beautiful cut and NOT A HIGH NECK! Hooray! Why are all dresses high neck these days? Look, FASHION, I have boobs and sometimes they would like some air. Just let my decollatage BREATHE, okay?

Dress - Topshop | Guess heels c/o Spartoo | Nail Polish - Thunder & Lightening by Models Own

But yeah, it's pretty, and for a full-on sequin dress from the increasingly expensive Topshop, £59 is kind of a steal. Buy it, buy it now, and we will be as twins. TWINS! I got this Models Own nail polish at The Clothes Show and although it doesn't look like it in the photo, it is a PERFECT match for the dress. Hooray for matching!

Four ways to Christmas up your nails!

The one thing I've discovered about nail art is that if you're a blogger and you've invested in a couple of nail art pens, you're kind of blase about the whole thing. Because it's actually really easy when you have nail art pens, it's no big deal.

BUT.

In the real world, the non-blog world, nail art is STAGGERING. People are like 'OH MY GOD YOU HAVE POLKA DOTS ON YOUR NAILS' and you are just like 'Er, yeah. No big deal. Stop staring at me like I invented post-its.'

Anyway, I love a theme, and, like, did you know that it's totally Christmas in two days? IT'S TOTALLY CHRISTMAS IN TWO DAYS. So, I've been Christmassing up my nails. I've already had two variations, and may squeeze in a third before the big day. Or, just skip straight to full on glitzy NYE nails. Whatever I do, it's clear that having unpainted nails at this time of year is unthinkable. UNTHINKABLE.

So, here are some simple tutorials so you can festive up your nails just like meeee:

This is so easy - red nail polish plus white wobbly tops equals Santa nails!

These are my favourites! I've had them on for the past few days and they're getting a lot of lovin'. They're the same basic template as Santa nails, you just need to do brown instead of red and add some little holly sprigs - and you have Christmas puddings!

The holly is much easier than you think, too, it's just a couple of short green lines plus a red dot. Hooray!

My white nail polish is terrible so I haven't tried these, which is a shame because HELLO ADORABLE. Just polka dots! Awww.

I wore these last week (you can see a glimpse of them in this post). I had snowmen on my thumbs and polka dots on the rest of my nails (plus some very wobbly snowflakes on my middle fingers - so wobbly that I am not including them here as they were terrrible).

The snowmen were pretty easy though! Just a long splodge, a round splodge, some spots for buttons and then scribble on a little hat. Awwww.

Oh, what are we going to do with our nails in January, guys? I can't go back to normal, I JUST CAN'T.