Tag Archives: Summer dresses

M&Co – The Dress Edit

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What is a dress? If you take a look at M&Co, you will see that a dress can be the most versatile item in your wardrobe, one that can quite literally take you to any, and every event in your social calendar. A dress will work for a wedding, the races, a party, the tennis or a christening. But it can also be screwed up and added to your holiday suitcase, be worn with a pair of trainers for the school run, or be teamed with neat ballet flats for the office (notice I’m not teaming with heels ladies, wear them if you want to.).

A dress makes the perfect beach cover up, one which will be fine if you decide on a leisurely lunch, or take some time out of the sun for a look around the shops.  It can embrace this season’s fashion trend – the cold shoulder, or can have a full skirted 1950s style, or be that style classic – the shift. A dress is a chameleon, it can be anything, it can go everywhere, it can be all sizes and can suit all shapes. Only one thing is guaranteed with a dress, it will look amazing.

This season M&Co has embraced the dress, and produced styles for every occasion, making it a virtually one stop shop for your summer needs. Personal favourites for me are the striped dress that I can see Jane Birkin and Alexa Chung wearing with ease, and the lace dress that is the most perfect shade of blue/green – seafoam maybe.

What type of dress is your style? Do you have a favourite from the range below?

The Striped Dress

Striped shift dress £23.40 Click to visit M&Co

Striped shift dress £23.40 Click to visit M&Co

The 1950s Grace Kelly Inspired Dress

Burnout fit and flare dress £65 Click to visit M&Co

Burnout fit and flare dress £65 Click to visit M&Co

The Beach Dress

 

Sequin v neck midi beach dress £28 Click to visit M&Co

Sequin v neck midi beach dress £28 Click to visit M&Co

The Perfect Holiday Dress

Hibiscus print skirt dress £28 Click to visit M&Co

Hibiscus print skirt dress £28 Click to visit M&Co

This Season’s Shirt Dress

Striped shirt dress £39 Click to visit M&Co

Striped shirt dress £39 Click to visit M&Co

The Cold Shoulder Dress

Spot print cold shoulder dress £45 Click to visit M&Co

Spot print cold shoulder dress £45 Click to visit M&Co

The Monochrome Shift Dress

Scalloped hem shift dress £65 Click to visit M&Co

Scalloped hem shift dress £65 Click to visit M&Co

The plus size maxi dress

Plus tropical print maxi dress £39 Click to visit M&Co

Plus tropical print maxi dress £39 Click to visit M&Co

The Lace Dress

Double layer lace dress £47.40 Click to visit M&Co

Double layer lace dress £47.40 Click to visit M&Co

The Maternity Sun dress

Maternity blue sun dress £22.40 Click to visit M&Co

Maternity blue sun dress £22.40 Click to visit M&Co

To view all M&Co’s current range of dresses, click here.

A weekend Wardrobe on a budget

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August 6th was a milestone for myself and hubby Pete, as we celebrated 10 years of marriage. To celebrate, we spent a really romantic weekend in the utterly gorgeous Bowness on Windermere, enjoying a weekend of glorious sunshine and amazing scenery and food.

For once, I decided to pack light, and with a bit of a them. I only packed dresses, opted for bright shoes and kept accessories to a minimum. I decided to take a couple of sales bargains, a couple of vintage finds and a current favourite dress that is made for summer nights. This is a very quick outfit post to show what I chose to wear over that weekend.

Outfit 1

I got this dress from Dorothy Perkins in the sale for just £7. It is coral and cream and so really suits tan accessories. It is like a cheesecloth fabric, so is a little bit 70s and very cool on what was a beautifully sunny day. I picked this dress up in a local Outfit store, I can’t see it online, but would check out the Dorothy Perkins website has they have some amazing dresses reduced at the moment, and you can get a further 15% off sale.

The tan bag is B Makowsky, you can see it here.

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Outfit 2

We went for  a Thai meal and I chose a bargain dress I had found in Asda for just £10. It was one of those moments when you see something on a rail and it just happens to be your size. I love this dress, it is quite stiff and this gives it a 1950s silhouette. I teamed it with Peacocks kitten sling backs in royal blue, and a sequin flap bag from Dorothy Perkins (another bargain – £7). You can see the current Asda George sale dresses here.

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Outfit 3

It’s a well known fact that I love a vintage find, and this dress is just that. (You can see more of my vintage finds here.) This dress was a £3.99 find from a charity shop in Bloxwich – Beacon for the Blind I think, and it is an early 1980s BHS label. It looked very dated on the hanger, but I loved the colours and thought it was very pretty once I tried it on, and for £3.99…

The necklace is Fiorelli and you can find similar here.

DSCN8255Outfit 4

This is my current favourite dress. It is a Primark dress, but it is just so pretty, with a pleated skirt, an overlay effect, and a gorgeous harbour print. I took it on my recent holiday to Menorca as it resembled the Cala’n Bosch Marina, and am looking for any excuse to wear it again – it is just so pretty.

The cardigan is M&S, (link here – lots of different colours) the shoes are another sales bargain from Evans (similar here), and the bag is made from Raffia.

DSCN8280Outfit 5

My final dress is another vintage piece, picked up at Vintage at the Manor for £4. This is a 1970s summer dress, and is clear proof that you should ignore the label and try it on – the label says size 12 and I am so not a 12!

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Everyone needs a versatile dress in Summer

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What would your definition of a versatile dress be? For me, it is something that I want to have in my wardrobe because I will get lots of wear out of it, for lots of different occasions. It is a failsafe dress, one that doesn’t really need a lot of thought – you can just thrown it on. And, of course, it is super flattering and comfortable, a dress I feel good wearing.  The ex White Stuff Mauve Mist printed summer dress from High Street Outlet is the latest versatile dress added to my wardrobe. It has already had three wears, all for different occasions, and I know it will emerge from my wardrobe time and time again before the Autumn comes.

Ex White Stuff Mauve Mist Printed Summer Dress £21.99 click to visit High Street Outlet

Ex White Stuff Mauve Mist Printed Summer Dress £21.99 click to visit High Street Outlet

The print of this dress is very eye-catching and super pretty, almost like something you would find on Wedgewood pottery, and the colour is a soft grey/blue which is very unusual for summer. The fabric is a silky feel viscose, one of the reasons why I think this dress suits a lot of different occasions, and is also fully lined, another great feature when you consider so many summer dresses are thin and see-thru. The dress has a gathered, elasticated waistband which gives the dress shape.  And, of course, as I already mentioned, this dress is really versatile.

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Why? Well, as I mentioned, I’ve already worn this dress 3 times in less than a month. I’ve worn it with flat shoes and a cardigan on a rather breezy school run. I’ve worn it with a denim jacket and sandals for the airport and traveling. I’ve worn it on my hols for a day out sightseeing. For each occasion it was cool, comfortable and perfect.

I think this dress would also be a great addition to your summer workwear uniform if you added a thin blazer and kitten heels, so yet another way to wear the ever versatile dress. High Street Outlet currently has a great range of dresses that can suit all your summer needs (you can check out the current intake here, and remember new lines are being added every week, so bookmark the site.)