WTFF: Paisley & Purple

I had this half written but got a little distracted by the Olympics.  In fact it's amazing I've managed to achieve anything this week as I've pretty much been glued to the TV, soaking up every ounce of Olympic action on offer.  Edie is firmly enamoured by the TV and I keep telling myself that it's ok as it's only 3 (solid) weeks of TV viewing.  That can't harm her little brain too much, right?  RIGHT?!?  Anyway, yesterday while I stared fixedly at the TV, jumped up and down when the Kiwis won Gold (yusssssssssssss), and made admiring comments about the washboard abs of the female heptathletes, I wore a dress.

Stand up straight girl!

I don't know about this frock.  I thought it was fine when I threw it on yesterday morning in a rush before I left the house, but once I looked at the photos Phil took at lunch, I wondered if it wasn't quite as fine as initially thought.  Not that's it's hideous, just maybe a bit dated and I didn't wear it well.  I think it's good to document these days as well as it's a good reminder to take my own advice and look in the mirror before I leave the house.  Also it's good for people to see that others leave the house looking less than their ideal.  I feel like I'm setting myself up for you all to say "oh no, it's lovely" and other placating phrases which is not my intention.  I know I didn't look awful, simply not the way I would like to look if I'd put more time into it.

I bought the frock when I was living in Sydney a number of years ago at a chain store called Review.  I had a bit of a penchant for this place.  It specialised in affordable, feminine clothing - capped sleeves, a bit of frill here and there, but all within the confines of 'street fashion' so you could get a lot of wear out of the clothes.  This dress is a wrap around style which is good for most body types as it gives you a waist even if you don't have one, and so also makes the bust and hips look bigger than your waist.  The knit of the jersey is fairly fine so that's not so flattering as it can hug to all the lumps and bumps.  What saves this dress is the intense paisley pattern that hides any clinginess.  I feel it looks a little like an axminster carpet but I quite like that.  Winter has finally made it's presence felt in Dunedin and this dress has short sleeves so I paired it with a Voon wrap top.

This top is great as it can be worn in approximately a bajillion ways, but as is the case with most items that sport that claim, I end up wearing it two or three ways and I can't be bothered to get my head around the remainder of the bajillion.  Yesterday was the standard 'ballet cardi wrap'.  I should have looked at where it was sitting though as it wasn't so great for making me look like I wasn't already 3 months down the track to having another sprog (I'm not by the way).  If I'd had it just a wee bit more cropped, it would have done me, the dress, and the top a whole lot more favours.  Anyway, the colour is totally great and perfect for my purply axminster dress and it's an awesome extra layer for cold days, so it was far from a complete disaster.

The purple tights got another outing just to follow on with the purple theme, and the boots were a necessary (but stylish) addition as you can't splash around in puddles in ballet flats.  Or you could, but you'd have to be in a carefree "I don't care if my feet become ice, turn black, and drop off" kind of mood.  Oddly enough, I wasn't.

The necklace is an oldy but a goody.  If I remember rightly, Mum bought me this when I was in about 6th form (Year 12 for those of you who don't speak my old-school lingo) to wear to my school's cultural awards evening.  I loved it then, still love it.  It's a bit dated (the choker-ish length is very 1997) but the stones (quite fake but lovely none the less) are a fetching pink colour and I like it.  The earrings are some my sister Natalie sent and I'm pretty sure they're from Accessorize.  I wear them a lot as they have an old-world look about them that seems to fit with a lot of what I wear.  The delicate colours mean they tone in well with lots of things.

Edie wore the frock she wore in my very first What the Frock Friday but I wasn't writing about her frocks then.  It's another Pumpkin Patch number from my mum, plus another wee pair of See Kai Run shoes.  This time a pair of red leather mary janes with white hearts (aww, stop with the cuteness already!).  White tights, a red and white spotty bodysuit with matching hair clip - cute kid perfection.  Especially appropriate outfit for crocodile wrestling.  "'Nap! 'Nap! 'NAP" as Edie would say.  That's "snap, snap, snap" with snapping hand-action for those of you not fluent in Edie-ese.  Edie was too busy straddling the croc and blinding it with her 'dress over your eyes' technique to pose for good photos so these iPhone snaps have to suffice.

I have you now, crocy!

Right, back to watching the Olympics.  I can't believe I actually managed to type a post with Olympics coverage all round me.  I suppose it did take me nearly 24 hours.  Maybe next week's 'frock' will have to be couch-based and Olympic themed.