Whilst this Killstar dress looks like something straight out of spooky season, we all know that it's going to be a wardrobe staple all year round for me. I just want to live my best life dressed somewhere between Wednesday Addams and Lydia Deetz, and this dress is pretty much the perfect meeting point between the two.
It can be spooky season all year round if you believe hard enough, and I knew when I saw this dress on the ASOS website, it'd be one of those "everyday but make it witchy" dreams that I'd be able to live in whatever the time of year. Black, soft, drapey and linen were all words I was happy to see, and after retrying three times to get the size correct on my bust (go up by two if you're large busted), I finally had what might be my favourite LBD of all time.
(All of the items in the post are ones which I've purchased myself, but links are AF links where possible.)
Since my friend Kat cut in my fringe about a month or so ago, I've felt so much more like myself again, and have definitely embraced the inner rock and roller who I always wanted to be! This is the first outfit post I've managed to scrape together in FOREVER, partly because I've been slowly rediscovering what my style is again, and partly because I've been buried with shoots and edits. I've got an exhibition opening at the end of May which I'm really excited about, but that along with freelance work is sucking all of my time into a giant black hole. I'm not going to complain though - it's nice to have creative things on the go which are coming together, but I'm hopeful that my blogging schedule will be a bit more regular again soon. I've got a few bits shot and some more which I'm hoping to do this weekend, so if you're still with me and reading this, thank you for sticking around!
I'm not normally one to wear jeans, unless it's my trusty black high waisted skinnies in the Autumn, or when I have a long day of shooting. But I'm trying to get better at casual dressing, and slowly, slowly, I think I'm getting the hang of it.
As someone who frequently works from home, my uniform tends to be a mixture of pyjamas and comfy work-out gear, with a few staple skater styles for when I actually need to put on a bra and leave the house. Other than that, I have dresses. Lots and lots of dresses, mostly impractical, brought for dancing, clubbing or DJing in. They tend to be super frou-frou or covered in sequins, and not the ideal item for nipping to Sainsburys in. But I really need to break out of the habit of offering up either total slob or retro realness with my wardrobe, and attempting a cutesy, sort of vintage approach with denim seemed to be the obvious direction.
I decided to keep my bumper bangs and red lips, teaming the outfit with a cute boat necklace from Tatty Devine to give it a touch of riviera glam with a nautical nod. It was a comfy outfit, but I'm still not quite sure I feel like me in it - almost as if I'm playing dress up, which I know is a completely silly thing to say. I think it's something I like though, and certainly a look which I want to play around with a little bit more. Whilst I love my dinosaur pyjamas and penguin shaped poncho, there is something to be said about occasionally looking like a real life adult...
So, full disclosure, I am a massive space nerd. Super massive. Whenever I leave London, I'll be the person with my head tilted upwards staring at the stars at night, amazed that I can count more than five. I'll be there, pointing out constellations, feeling tiny, and falling completely in love with the endless possibilities out there. So when the galaxy print trend hit a few years ago, I was ecstatic. But there was very little I liked, with plus size possibilities seeming very minimal.
Outside of some workout leggings, the trend mostly passed me by. Thankfully that changed when I came upon this stunning find at the most recent Fat Positive Clothes Swap. Not only was it a galaxy print beauty, it was a freaking mock-wrap PUFF BALL of a dream .
My only wish was that it was a little longer so that it could be comfortably worn as a dress. I think I'd pretty much live in it if it wasn't for that! But it's a fun item which maybe won't get wheeled out as often as some of my other favourites, but I will always feel out of this world in when I do wear it.
When I saw this top in Camden's dedicated Divided by H&M store, it was as if I were seeing my teenage years illustrated right before my eyes. I found myself holding onto it, wandering around the store with it, "just to see". I totally wasn't going to buy it. That was stupid. Stupid. I'm 34 years old with a wardrobe filled with frou frou vintage and photo studio practical. But I held onto it. Clutched it to my beating heart, and then put it back on the rail and sadly walked out.
That was, I walked out for all of 20 minutes. I meet Lord Dicely for a coffee, and began to describe the sweater to him. The cat prints. The heart shaped rain drops. How it was as if someone had mapped my teenage brain and sent it off to some clever illustrator to interpret. "Why don't you go back and get it?" came his simple question. Why not indeed? What was it that was stopping me? Was it just TOO awesome?
A photo posted by Diana - Fashion Loves Photos (@grungekittyphotogeek) on
Trying something different is more often than not a good thing. I don't think I'd realised that I had a sweater hang-up - apparently this is a thing in my brain. I loved the print, loved the fabric, but just figured with my boobs and hips, it'd look stupid and frumpy. I picked up a size L rather than an XL to make it tighter, and in the changing room, found that it seemed to hit in all right places. Most surprising were the cuffs which are weirdly an on-going problem for me with cardigans and jumpers. And do you know what? I freakin' loved it! Best ugly 90s print sweater ever!
Whilst it's never going to be a part of my a-game wardrobe, it's something cute, fun and comfy for those off duty days hanging out on the sofa. I teamed it here with a pair of trusty ASOS jeans, and a cute necklace from Little Gnashers, and over the past few weeks, it's done a great job keeping me warm and masquerading as a cute pyjama top at London's coldest. I think it would have gone into the "What if?" shopping basket in consumer heaven had my boyfriend not told me in a nice way to stop being stupid. And I'm so glad it didn't - sometimes a garment, cute or not just makes you happy, and surely that is reason enough to say yes if you can.
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