Saturday, April 21, 2012

I Went Clothes Shopping!

Fashion is not a topic that comes up often on this blog, but I went on a major clothes shopping expedition last Saturday and can't resist sharing the fruits of the most shopping fun I've had in a long while. The main purpose was to find a dress to wear for a wedding - Tevye's nephew S gets married tomorrow! - and it needed to be something that would double up for our special celebration holiday in the summer. I can't remember whether I mentioned it before, but we are going on a cruise in August to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary. We have never done anything like it before, and it will definitely require additions to my decidedly non-dressy wardrobe. That meant that as well as a dress for the wedding I was hoping I might find other dresses suitable for formal and semi-formal evenings on the ship.

I have never been a dressy, clothes oriented person, but I have found that a combination of getting older and having teenage daughters has led me to enjoy clothes more than I used to and to be a bit more confident in trying new things. I have also lost weight and being able to shop for smaller sizes was definitely fun! I have gone from a size 16/18 to a comfortable 14 (in US sizing I think that is a 10?), which made me feel a bit more adventurous. Also I was shopping alone, which meant I could take my time and experiment without anyone losing patience!

Here are the results of my successful shopping spree. First, for the wedding, a dress from Monsoon. (I had never bought anything in Monsoon before. They wrap the clothes in tissue paper before putting them into the bag. I felt very upmarket!)




Together with a matching shrug. The colour is called "peacock". I love that!


Then another shop where I have only ever looked, but not bought - it rarely seems to have much above a size 14 in stock. This was Jane Norman, which was very considerately having a 25% off day. This is my "wow" dress for formal evenings on the ship. I can't see any other occasion to wear it in my immediate future, but it was very reasonably priced, and I have never had a dress like this before. Yes. It is very pink. I like pink.



Then continuing the pink theme I found this shift dress in Marks and Spencer. Again it was reasonably priced, and I think I will be able to get quite a lot of wear out of this one. It has a scooped neckline at the back with a bow, and an all-over lacy pattern.




And last but not least, shoes ... Marks and Spencer again. These are surprisingly comfy, and I can wear them with any of the dresses.




Really, these are all very unlike my normal dressing style (casual or smart casual) but I'm actually looking forward to wearing them.

7 comments:

elli said...

Oh, it looks like you have found some really lovely pieces! I quite like the looks of them. What fun to have a successful clothes shopping expedition!

Linds said...

Stunning! The Monsoon dress with the bolero top will be just beautiful - can we see a photo from the wedding later?? And a cruise is a wonderful way to celebrate 20 years of marriage. Geoff on the other hand, would NEVER have gone on one! Seeing that his working life was spent on the ocean!

PixieMum said...

Love your purchases, daughters are good at encouraging their mothers to try different retailers.

Are the girls going cruising with you?

Missus Wookie said...

Oh these are lovely - the photo of you and Teyve together was nice too. Now see my teenage daughter is definitely not interested in clothes - beyond 'comfortable' and 'warm'. It's me suggesting a pair of earrings or a necklace might add something to the current outfit...

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Nice collection.This is so much more than i needed.. but will all come in use. Thanks!!
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cheap clutches said...

What a sexy dresses! I like the pink long dress, if I am going to wear it, it's cool in feeling that you're sexy on it.

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